Implementation of Ukraine-EU Association Agreement requirements in local community strategies during wartime
Abstract
The article analyses the implementation of Ukraine-EU Association Agreement requirements in local community strategies under martial law conditions. The authors focus on an important problem: Ukrainian communities have specific legal obligations regarding the implementation of EU acquis at the local level, but this has been little studied in academic literature, and these obligations or, at minimum, recommendations are often unknown to communities and are not scheduled for implementation in the coming months or days. Accordingly, the unique phenomenon of European governance standards implementation by Ukrainian territorial communities during active combat operations is examined, which contradicts traditional crisis management theories. Based on content analysis of official EU documents, national legislation, and territorial community strategies, a significant information gap between European integration obligations and local planning practice has been identified. It was established that only 20% of analysed strategies contain sections on water resources according to the Water Framework Directive, mandatory strategic environmental assessment was conducted for 13% of documents, and no community has waste management plans in accordance with EU standards. Five main sources of the information gap have been systematised: insufficient awareness of officials, absence of methodological recommendations from central authorities, lack of coordination between governance levels, inadequate funding, and absence of sanctions for non-compliance. A European integration planning risk matrix has been developed with obligation gradation by urgency: 2025 obligations (basin planning, strategic environmental assessment), 2026-2027 tasks (energy sector, waste management), and long-term obligations until 2030 (full integration into EU governance systems). Practical tools for communities have been proposed in the form of a 6-month roadmap with concrete actions, a template for integrating European requirements into planning documents, and a peer-to-peer consultation system through local government associations. The research results have practical significance for overcoming the information gap and ensuring effective European integration at the local level during wartime.
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