EU standards velocity within EaP countries

Evaluation of the progress and challenges in Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia

By signing the Association Agreements and DCFTAs with the European Union, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine have committed to harmonizing their legislation and standards to those of the EU through which the objectives of boosting trade and economic growth through improved access to the European single market for their autochthonous products can be achieved. However, this objective could be achieved only through minimization of Tariffs and Non-Tariffs Barriers, which imply compliance with EU legislation, practices, technical regulations, standardization, metrology, accreditation, conformity assessment procedures and the market surveillance system as provided in the Association Agreements between the EU and Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

In this respect, the three EaP countries have started to accelerate the processes of implementation of European standards, benefiting from significant EU financial and technical assistance. However, the process of implementation of EU standards in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine is a difficult challenge mainly because of the adopted and implemented soviet standards (GOSTs) that are conflictual with the European ones. More than that, the European standards aim at higher quality and require more efforts and financial resources than GOST standards.

This paper approaches in a comparative view the challenges and opportunities of the standardization process in three Eastern Partnership countries – Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine- and outlines the basic trends and dynamics. It focuses on the transition from Soviet (GOSTs) to European/International standards and analyses the obstacles associated with this process. The paper seeks to figure out how the signing of the Association Agreements between the EU and the three EaP countries have contributed to the implementation of European standards in these countries and discusses practical examples in construction, agro-food and energy efficiency sector in support.

The comparative study ”EU standards velocity within EaP countries. Evaluation of the progress and challenges in Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia” is conducted within the project “Enhancing the role of Civil Society and SMEs from Eastern Partnership Countries in the implementation of European standards” implemented by Center for Innovation and Policies in Moldova (CIPM), Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS) and Strategic and Security Studies Group in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The full report can be accessed here.