EU External Differentiation as a Crisis Response and Post-War Recovery Tool? The Case of EU Response to Russia’s War against Ukraine

Emerging scholarship and policy analyses on the EU response Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 predominantly focuses on the EU’s sanctions against Russia and the prospects and challenges of the EU’s decisions to grant Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova the Candidate country status. What misses and may further miss from the picture is the modification of the pre-war EU-Ukraine differentiated integration (DI) constellations and the launch of new ones to support the country’s resilience amid the war. Using a variety of examples – ranging from the amendment of the EU’s Advisory Mission’s mandate to assist Ukraine with the investigation of war crimes to the Solidarity Lanes initiative – the paper highlights the role and potential of EU external differentiation as a crisis management and post-war recovery tool. It also discusses the repercussions of EU-Ukraine external DI for the EU’s further evolution as an external actor, in particular in crisis response, crisis management and long-term recovery domains.