EU foreign ministers agreed yesterday (22 July) to sign an Association Agreement with Ukraine that would go beyond the current partnership accord but stop short of offering the country an EU membership perspective.

The actual wording of the new accord was the main stumbling block in the debate. Indeed, the term "association" was also used for accords signed with the Eastern European countries that joined the Union in 2004 as well as for countries with clear membership perspectives, such as Croatia and Serbia - a similarity that some EU governments are keen to avoid.

On the other hand, the EU has also signed "association" deals with a number of its trading partners, such as Chile and Egypt.

In the negotiations leading to yesterday's agreement, Spain led a group of countries - including the Netherlands and Belgium - which wants the preamble to explicitly state that the new accord does not relate to accession.

Meeting President Viktor Yushchenko in Kiev on Monday (21 July), German Chancellor Angela Merkel also made it clear that Ukraine was still a long way from joining the EU and the new accord was "not to be confused with the possibility of entering the European Union".

"This is an agreement to deepen relations considerably - trade, economic relations and legal structures," Merkel said. It brings Ukraine closer to the EU but clearly does so within the context of the neighborhood policy, which governs the EU's relations with 16 countries from Eastern Europe and the Southern Mediterranean, such as Libya or Israel (see our Links Dossier).

The matter is also being complicated by European fears of damaging relations with Russia, which clearly opposes Ukraine's drive towards the EU and NATO. EU leaders are particularly aware of Russia's role as Europe's main supplier of natural gas. In 2006, a Russian-Ukrainian quarrel had led to a temporary cut in the supply of Russian gas flowing through Ukrainian pipes to Europe (EurActiv 18/06/06).

France, which currently holds the rotating EU Presidency and chaired yesterday's meeting, was among the countries to push hardest for the signature of the new accord. President Nicolas Sarkozy had repeatedy called for Ukraine to be granted a "privileged status" in the EU's relations with its neighbours - without, however, going as far as actual membership.

The commissioner in charge of neighbourhood policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, lauded the "big progress" being made, highlighting the EU-Ukraine Summit in Evian on 9 September as "an excellent possibility to see what the progress is".

She also spoke in favour of launching a dialogue on visa facilitation to complement the negotiations on the new accord, which would give "all chances to European aspirations".

However, referring to friction between the Ukrainian president and prime minister, she said the country still has "a lot to do a lot to stabilise its interior politics".

President Yushchenko himself considers the new agreement to be "a colossal step" forward, despite acknowledging that Ukraine's path to EU membership "is not an easy one".

"It is very important for Ukraine to know its port of destination in this matter. That will enable us to determine which winds are in favour and which are not," he said on Monday.