Integration before membership

Full membership is a single political event at the end of a long process. Everything useful about it, however, can be delivered in pieces beforehand, and a considerable amount already has been.

What has already happened

Energy: the electricity grid synchronised with the continental system and trading across the interconnectors, under market rules written to a European template.

Customs: accession to the common transit convention and operation of the corresponding electronic system, which removes duplicate procedures at every crossing.

Transport: liberalised road haulage, allowing a Ukrainian carrier to operate to and through the Union without the permit system that previously limited volumes.

Trade: the free trade area, with tariffs largely eliminated.

Payments: participation in the single euro payments area, so that a transfer from a Ukrainian bank works like a domestic European one.

And roaming, which is trivial and which more people notice than any of the above.

Why this approach works

Because each step delivers a measurable benefit immediately, rather than storing all the value until a distant date. A carrier saving hours at a border does not need to wait for accession to be better off.

And because each step requires the same technical alignment that formal accession will require, so nothing is wasted.

The political value

It makes integration a matter of record rather than of intention. A country already inside six systems is a different negotiating proposition from one that has only signed a declaration.

Joining the system without joining the Union has, from where I sit, been more useful than membership itself would have been so far: common transit, the Energy Community, visa-free travel — none waited for membership and all of them shortened my delivery times. This approach works because each step is useful on its own. Preparation done while waiting also shortens the wait.