International Renaissance Foundation/ Open Society Foundations Iryna Solonenko Chisinau 21 November 2012 European Integration Index for Eastern Partnership Countries

Annual assessment of European integration of six EaP countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine) in a comparative perspective Reference point and advocacy instrument for civil society of EaP countries Reference point for the EU in implementing ‘more for more’ principle Concept/Idea

Three dimensions: Linkage – depth and intensiveness of contacts/links with the EU – 5 Sections Approximation – how closely institutions and policies in EaP countries resemble those typical of EU member states + adoption of EU requirements – 3 Sections Management of European integration – 6 Sections What is European integration - What do we measure?

Qualitative and quantitative data transformed into scores along 0-1 scale Yes/No questions were coded 1 = Yes or positive with regard to EU integration and 0 = No or negative with regard to EU integration In some cases “1” was given to a best performing country and “0” — to a wort performing country among the 6 EaP countries Sometimes external emperical benchmarks - EBRD countries, EU-27 average, largest possible number external benchmarks were used, such as EBRD How do we measure it?

EaP Index 2012 measures state of play and dinamics of European integration of six EaP countries during early 2012 As compared to 2011 Index, EaP Index 2012 is based on a more elaborate methodology questions Particular emphasis – “Deep and Sustainable Democracy” New areas – DCFTA, Democratic Control over Security, Non-discrimination Over 50 experts from EaP countries and the EU EaP Index 2012

As in 2011 EaP Index – two group of countries: with stronger EU aspirations (Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine) and weaker EU aspirations (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus) trends: Moldova and Armenia – progress; Georgia – uneven progress (democracy developments raised questions, at least until 2012 parliamentary elections); Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Belarus – deterioration of democracy and reforms in other areas Key Findings 2012

K EY R ESULTS AT A G LANCE

Moldova - the best performer, coming first in Linkage, Approximation and Management Georgia - the second best performer is, coming second in Approximation and Management, and third in Linkage Ukraine - the third best performer, ranking second in Linkage, third in Management and only fourth in Approximation Armenia, although fourth in Linkage and Management, ranks third in Approximation Azerbaijan ranks fifth in Linkage and Approximation, while sharing fourth position with Armenia in Management Belarus closes the list in all three dimensions

Moldova – best performance in all three dimensions - supports the assumption that increased linkages and approximation mutually reinforce each other Overall, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus have somewhat lower scores in Approximation compared to Linkage Georgia, Armenia and to lesser extent Azerbaijan – although less advantaged in Linkage (inter alia due to their greater geographical distance from the EU), might be catching up in Approximation Ukraine demonstrates the larger gap between Linkage and Approximation – not making the best use of advanced contacts with the EU

Elections (national level) Media freedom, association and assembly rights Human rights Independent judiciary Quality of public administration Fighting corruption Accountability Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine are more or less on the same level; Moldova – far ahead, while Azerbaijan and Belarus – far behind Deep and Sustainable Democracy (1)

MoldovaGeorgiaUkraineArmeniaAzerbaijanBelarus Total 0.75 /10.59 /30.61 /20.59 /30.34 /40.25 /5 Elections 0.88 /10.40 /30.61 /20.38 /40.05 /60.16 /5 Media freedom, association, essembly rights 0.71 /10.63 /20.58 /30.54 /40.29 /50.16 /6 Human rights 0.68 /10.55 /30.61 /20.54 /40.53 /50.16 /6 Independent judiciary 0.66 /20.73 /10.50 /40.58 /30.22 /50.21 /6 Quality of public administration 0.79 /10.47 /50.59 /30.70 /20.58 /40.31 /6 Fighting corruption 0.75 /20.78 /10.67 /40.73 /30.40 /50.32 /6 Accountability 0.80 /10.57 /40.71 /20.66 /30.32 /50.43 /6

Moldova is the frontrunner in all sections apart from Independent Judiciary and Fighting Corruption where Georgia leads Georgia shows poor results in Quality of Public Administration and Accountability Ukraine is lagging behind Armenia in Independent Judiciary and Fighting Corruption Belarus is behind all other EaP countries. Elections are the only exeption: here Belarus leaves Azerbaijan behind Deep and Sustainable Democracy (2)

European Integration Index for Eastern Partnership Countries Thank You for Your Attention! :)