According to the index, Ukraine is still the third country after Moldova and Georgia in terms of progress by many indicators tracked for Eastern Partnership countries. On some criteria, however, Ukraine also goes down to fourth giving way to Armenia.
In particular, Ukraine lags behind in many aspects of democracy and cooperation between public and private sectors. In terms of market economy development and fulfillment of free trade area requirements, Ukraine is doing better than Azerbaijan and Belarus only.
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Over 2012 and early 2013, Ukraine has seen a significant decline in the quality of election organization, some decline in the freedom of speech and assembly, and failed to guarantee independent judiciary. In terms of judiciary independence, Ukraine is fourth out of six Eastern Partnership countries.
Ukraine also lags behind Moldova, Georgia and Armenia in organization and implementation of anticorruption policy. It lacks political will in implementation of reforms, as the index shows. There are plenty of relevant examples. Ukraine and Belarus are the only countries of the region that do not have biometric passports. In terms of institutional support of European integration, Ukraine is behind Moldova and Georgia, doing only slightly better than Armenia.
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“In spite of leadership in the intensity of the political dialogue, trade and economic integration and sector cooperation with the EU, Ukraine fails to use these advantages to be on a higher level of approaching EU standards,” the research concludes.
