Achieving the Homogeneous Application of EU State Aid Law Under the EU-Ukraine AA/DCFTA: Mission (Im)Possible?

Sammanfattning: The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement (EU-Ukraine AA/DCFTA) was signed in 2014 and became fully effective in 2017. It includes a detailed section on State aid, which is based on EU law. There is also a provision (Art. 264), which requires Ukraine to use EU law instruments during State aid control enforcement. The language employed presupposes that both the Union and Ukraine strive to achieve the homogeneous application of the EU State aid rules. Thus, this thesis aims to analyse to what extent the EU-Ukraine AA/DCFTA leads to this goal. The thesis starts with the delineation of the Union’s and Ukraine’s implementation goals. Then follows the identification and assessment of the legal and institutional obstacles to the homogeneous application of EU State aid law in Ukraine. These hurdles are inferred from three main sources: the EU-Ukraine AA/DCFTA, the EU and Ukrainian legal systems. The final point is an analysis of the identified obstacles. It is argued that the homogeneous application of EU State aid law is threatened from different angles. However, not all the identified stumbling blocks are decisive. Three critical points of tension are defined. It is concluded that the EU-Ukraine AA/DCFTA did not lead to the homogeneous application of EU State aid law. The most efficient solution to the problem is to create an EEA-style common economic space with at least the ‘Association Trio’ (Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova) with a two-tier State aid control system.