Currently within the ever disintegrating and incoherent EU, battle has been drawn along numerous lines between the European Commission, European Parliament and European Council. Amongst the most recent is alternative energy, green economies and resource efficiency.
Not exactly headline news considering the 4 year old and continuing fiscal calamity within the EU, the democratic deficit that is ever widening between EU citizen and the EU supra-structure, continuing bank bailouts within sovereign nations and a serious lack of leadership, imagination and vision. (Just to touch on a few issues.)
Now as Ukraine is not an EU Member (thankfully) it is not always directly effected by the multi-personality disordered behemoth on its borders. Unfortunately it is also not completely immune from it either when it comes to trade, product standards etc., not withstanding the rules and regulations it has voluntarily signed up to.
It has been interesting to watch DTEC, a company owned by Rinat Akhmetov, make serious moves into the energy arena in Ukraine, both traditional and also pioneering in alternative energy, particularly as Ukraine is not committed to the EU’s “Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe” - at least yet.
However, as Ukraine is undoubtedly aware of the plans, rules and regulations to which it isn’t signed up, but should the EU manage to survive the next 20 years when Ukraine may just about meet the Maastricht and Copenhagen criteria and the EU be in a better position than it is today, documents such as the “Resource Efficient Europe” that project EU strategy ideals to 2050 with benchmarks at 2020, will ultimately have to be adhered to by Ukraine.
To save a long read (unless you have the time), you can skip to the “Milestone” paragraphs at the end of each section that state the 2020 benchmarks for the EU. Ambitious to say the least, even for the EU nations when not trying to sure up so many structural flaws, deficits and democratic failings let alone in the current circumstances.
But can Ukraine reach those “Milestone” targets by 2050, let alone 2020?
I very much doubt it, not that it is a reason not to try. Any progress towards resource efficiency in Ukraine can only be a good thing even if it falls woefully short of EU 2020 targets by 2050. Some progress is better than none when all is said and done, and there is massive scope for improvement.
Then again, there is massive scope for improvement in many areas of life here. Policy priorities and actually effectively implementing them may well prove hurdles to a resource efficient Ukraine for the foreseeable future.