EU external differentiated integration as a crisis response tool? Evidence from Ukraine

Abstract

Emerging scholarship on the EU and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 has predominantly focused on explaining the unprecedented strength of the EU’s response, especially its new far-reaching sanctions against Russia and the granting of a candidate country status to all three Eastern Neighbours. What is missing from the picture is the role of pre-war EU-Ukraine external differentiated integration (EDI) arrangements in the EU’s efforts to support the country’s resilience amidst the war. Based on the case studies of the EU’s Solidarity Lanes initiative and Eurojust’s assistance with the documentation and investigation of Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine, the article highlights the role and potential of EDI as a crisis management and post-war recovery tool. It also points to the repercussions of EU-Ukraine EDI for the EU’s further evolution as an external actor, particularly in the domains of crisis response, crisis management, and long-term recovery.