European Green Deal: Impact on Ukraine’s Energy, Climate and Environment Policies and Legislation
The negotiation process for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union requires serious work on reforming all sectors and includes the implementation of the entire EU acquis, including policies in the fields of energy, environment, climate change. Ukraine’s ambition to become part of the EU’s ambitious programme to achieve climate neutrality and decarbonisation, as well as concrete step in this area, dates back to the end of 2019, when the European Commission launched the European Green Deal (EGD). The experience gained by Ukraine
in the implementation of EU “green” policies will help to better fulfill its obligations for EU membership in areas closely related to the implementation of the EGD.
In this policy brief, experts tried to analyze the main achievements of the EU in the implementation of the EGD, the EGD impact on Ukraine, in particular in the fields of energy, climate change, environmental protection, and the circular economy. The purpose of the study is to draw conclusions about what key lessons Ukraine should draw in the context of existing challenges and threats, including post-war reconstruction and development.
During the five years of the EGD implementation, the EU managed to design practical mechanisms for a large-scale green transition, give impetus to new industries and fulfill a significant part of the tasks, especially in the energy sectors, climate change, and decarbonization of transport. We expect that in the future the strategic directions of the EGD continue to be supported, and the adopted decisions yield practical results.
By including in the EGD an external avenue of the implementation of goals and objectives in various areas, the EU poses itself as a global leader ready to promote and support an ambitious global agenda in environmental protection, climate change, and energy policy. Countries outside the EU, especially those that find the trade with the union important, have often been concerned about the potential negative impact of EGD policies, mostly in terms of access of their goods to the EU market. In Ukraine, a special discussion was triggered by the possible impact of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) on many sectors in the economy.
The outbreak of russia’s full-scale invasion into Ukraine has hampered Ukraine’s solid plans to synchronize with the EGD. However, an understanding of the principles and processes of the EGD made it possible in the reconstruction planning process to consider the importance of green reconstruction with a focus on energy efficiency and decarbonization of the economy. It also helped in preparing Ukraine for the negotiation process according to the sections of the so-called “green cluster” (full name – “Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity”).
In order to synchronize with the EGD goals, the implementation of climate policy and legislation has intensified in Ukraine: a climate strategy has been adopted, a draft law on the principles of national climate policy has been developed and adopted in the first reading, and a National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) has been developed and adopted. Thanks to the discourse on EGD issues, such concepts as “climate governance architecture,” “climate neutrality,” “decarbonization” came to the political and legislative documents.
The EGD impact on Ukraine’s environmental policy has been very limited. This is primarily due to the EGD’s minor achievements in this area in the EU itself, the slow development of environmental policy in Ukraine and the impact of the war. Instead, the EGD had a significant impact on public and scientific discourse in Ukraine on environmental issues.
The introduction of the EGD has impacted Ukraine’s strategic decisions in the energy sector as well. The principles of the EGD were integrated into the national energy policy. In particular, higher priority was given to improving energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy sources (RES), especially after the full-scale invasion of the russian federation. This impact was reflected in the Energy Strategy of Ukraine until 2050 and NECP, and in other strategic documents. At the same time, their implementation requires a significant amount of work, including since the key acts of energy acquis within the framework of the EGD were adopted only in 2024.
Taking into account these intermediate conclusions, the authors deduced the following conclusions:
● The strategic objectives and the outputs achieved within the framework of the EGD will be determining the development of the EU in the medium and long term. Ukraine should also take these trends into account in the post-war reconstruction and development planning, as well as in the process of EU integration. Such planning should include the creation of new industries, value chains (in manufacturing), and therefore, it shall be strategic.
● It should be borne in mind that the implementation of the EGD has broader implications and goals reaching far beyond specific sectors, security in particular. The invasion of the russian federation in Ukraine and the outbreak of a full-scale war re-instated the relevance of the EU priorities, strengthened the focus on energy autonomy, and also reinforced the security component of the green transition to the EU. Russian aggression against Ukraine has completely changed the geopolitical situation on the continent, which Ukraine can use to ensure economic, food, environmental and climate security in the future.
● The EGD has had an undeniable impact on energy, climate and the EU environment policy and law by changing and updating the EU acquis in respective areas. Ukraine will face the issue of approximation of legislation to the acquis, which has been significantly updated thanks to the EGD, in the context of EU accession negotiations. In this regard, the impact of the EGD on Ukraine will continue in the future in the form of more complex tasks for the implementation of the acquis in the fields of energy, climate change, the functioning of the internal market, industrial pollution, environmentalprotection, etc.
● The associated reforms that Ukraine will need to implement should be measurable and pragmatic. The government and other authorities must show readiness to counter populism and manipulation of citizens’ attitudes, their expectations, fears, and dissatisfactions in order to prevent resistance to reforms.
● The EGD, its tools and mechanisms can and should be integrated into the reconstruction of Ukraine, especially given the “build back better” principle and the “do no significant harm” approach recognized by Ukraine and the EU. Strategic priorities for the development of Ukraine’s economy should be chosen taking into account the green transition to the EU in order to ensure a completely practical dimension of integration into the new industrial chains of the EU and access to its markets.
The policy brief was prepared with the financial assistance of the European Union within the project “Integration of Sustainable Development in Ukraine in line with the European Green Deal” and Zentrum Liberale Moderne within the project “Ukraine in Europe – German-Ukrainian Parliamentary Dialogue, Strengthening Ukraine Competence in Germany and Promoting Ukraine’s European Integration”. The project is implemented by consortium of civil society organizations: DiXi Group (coordinator), Resource and Analysis Center “Society and Environment”, Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine (EECU) Association, Ukrainian Leadership Academy, Women’s Energy Club of Ukraine, DZYGA, PLATO.
The content of the publication is the sole responsibility of the NGO “Resource and Analysis Center” Society and Environment” and under no circumstances can the content be considered to reflect the position of the European Union and/or Zentrum Liberale Moderne.
