The decision of the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovitch not to sign the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement has plunged the EU into a deep crisis. Seen in its most positive light, this shock offers a potential “new start” for the policy. The EU should seize this chance.
There are still countries in Europe where protestors enthusiastically wave the EU's star-studded flag rather than burning it in anger. These days Kiev's embattled EuroMaidan is as much the heart of the Union as the Schuman roundabout in Brussels. So who said Europe lacks a story and a cause?
Commentators rue the “missed opportunity” of 2004 and present the membership perspective as a panacea. Instead, they should be asking what functions and demands the EU approach should fulfil and only then, whether a membership perspective would be suitable.
This memorandum is part of a joint initiative of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and ECFR in cooperation with the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation. It has been signed by Andrzej Olechowski, Adam D. Rotfeld, Rainder Steenblock, Rita Süssmuth and Karsten Voigt.