Examining Ukraine’s EU Candidate Status: (When) Does the Accession Process Turn from Political to Legal?

This article explores the nature of the notion “candidate country status” in the context of EU accession. In particular it enquires whether the candidate status, which was granted to Ukraine by the European Council on 23 June 2022, has any actual legal implications or is the whole accession process...

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Main Authors: Christoph Schewe, Arnis Buka, Edmunds Broks
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Latvia Press 2024-10-01
Series:Law: Journal of the University of Latvia
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journal.lu.lv/jull/article/view/2067
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author Christoph Schewe
Arnis Buka
Edmunds Broks
author_facet Christoph Schewe
Arnis Buka
Edmunds Broks
author_sort Christoph Schewe
collection DOAJ
description This article explores the nature of the notion “candidate country status” in the context of EU accession. In particular it enquires whether the candidate status, which was granted to Ukraine by the European Council on 23 June 2022, has any actual legal implications or is the whole accession process up to the point where accession agreement is signed entirely devoid of legal consequences. Legal doctrine seems to generally answer this question in the affirmative, explaining that the candidate status was a rather political concept bearing primarily symbolic relevance. However, the example of Ukraine, which was granted candidate status much more rapidly than a number of other countries before it, challenges to explore the topic in more depth, in particular by delving into the CJEU’s existing case law on candidate status and the possibility of challenging the granting of candidate status through litigation in the CJEU.
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series Law: Journal of the University of Latvia
spelling doaj-art-35094279939f48cba4e6b372f1c19b192025-08-20T02:55:52ZengUniversity of Latvia PressLaw: Journal of the University of Latvia1691-76772592-93642024-10-011710.22364/jull.17.06Examining Ukraine’s EU Candidate Status: (When) Does the Accession Process Turn from Political to Legal?Christoph Schewe0Arnis Buka1Edmunds Broks2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1157-745XUniversity of Applied Sciences Kiel-Altenholz/ReinfeldFaculty of Law, University of LatviaFaculty of Law, University of Latvia This article explores the nature of the notion “candidate country status” in the context of EU accession. In particular it enquires whether the candidate status, which was granted to Ukraine by the European Council on 23 June 2022, has any actual legal implications or is the whole accession process up to the point where accession agreement is signed entirely devoid of legal consequences. Legal doctrine seems to generally answer this question in the affirmative, explaining that the candidate status was a rather political concept bearing primarily symbolic relevance. However, the example of Ukraine, which was granted candidate status much more rapidly than a number of other countries before it, challenges to explore the topic in more depth, in particular by delving into the CJEU’s existing case law on candidate status and the possibility of challenging the granting of candidate status through litigation in the CJEU. https://journal.lu.lv/jull/article/view/2067EU candidate countryEuropean Councilaccession to the EUenlargement of the EUUkraineCourt of Justice of the European Union
spellingShingle Christoph Schewe
Arnis Buka
Edmunds Broks
Examining Ukraine’s EU Candidate Status: (When) Does the Accession Process Turn from Political to Legal?
Law: Journal of the University of Latvia
EU candidate country
European Council
accession to the EU
enlargement of the EU
Ukraine
Court of Justice of the European Union
title Examining Ukraine’s EU Candidate Status: (When) Does the Accession Process Turn from Political to Legal?
title_full Examining Ukraine’s EU Candidate Status: (When) Does the Accession Process Turn from Political to Legal?
title_fullStr Examining Ukraine’s EU Candidate Status: (When) Does the Accession Process Turn from Political to Legal?
title_full_unstemmed Examining Ukraine’s EU Candidate Status: (When) Does the Accession Process Turn from Political to Legal?
title_short Examining Ukraine’s EU Candidate Status: (When) Does the Accession Process Turn from Political to Legal?
title_sort examining ukraine s eu candidate status when does the accession process turn from political to legal
topic EU candidate country
European Council
accession to the EU
enlargement of the EU
Ukraine
Court of Justice of the European Union
url https://journal.lu.lv/jull/article/view/2067
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AT arnisbuka examiningukraineseucandidatestatuswhendoestheaccessionprocessturnfrompoliticaltolegal
AT edmundsbroks examiningukraineseucandidatestatuswhendoestheaccessionprocessturnfrompoliticaltolegal