Peculiarities of environmental regulation of economy in countries of BRICS and EEU: threats and opportunities for Ukraine

Abstract

According to the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, Ukraine has to accelerate reforms in the field of environmental protection due to harmonisation of its environmental legislation and taxation with the European ones. However tree important nuances arise in this case. Firstly, neither Ukraine nor any other country have their own ecosystems isolated from others. Therefore, even the strictest environmental standards are not guaranties of high quality of environment due to existence of cross-border pollution from countries with less “eco-friendly” policy. Secondly, Ukraine doesn’t have such a long history of environmental regulation of economy as the most EU member countries have, and is still influenced by the Soviet legacy, when the price of air, water and other inexhaustible natural resources was underestimated. Therefore, the experience of environmental regulation of economy in post-Soviet countries with the common past in terms of attitude towards environmental protection could be used for Ukraine, as long as it may provide insight on the ways to improve the environment. Cast instability of the CIS for the last 10 years has determined the choice of a relatively new international association for the analysis - the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).Thirdly, unlike most EU countries, Ukraine belongs to the group of low-middle income countries. Therefore it would be more useful to analyze the practice of environmental regulation of the economy in the countries with the same level of income, which, however, experience economic growth, for example - member countries of BRICS and the EEU. The above mentioned is of particular relevance given that environmental regulation of the economy remains underexposed in Ukraine from the position of possible cross-border pollution influence on the state of environment of Ukraine due to the different approaches to environmental protection of the government of neighbour countries. Therefore, the main objectives of the paper is to analyze peculiarities of environmental regulation of the economy implementation in the EEU and BRICS member countries, to identify the possible impact of such regulation on the environment in Ukraine, and to define positive features that can be useful for improving environmental and economic conditions in Ukraine. The paper is divided into three main sections and conclusions. First section is focused on the analysis of a legal framework of environmental regulation in the EEU and BRICS member countries. The practice of application of environmental taxes in the countries of the above mentioned international associations is examined in the second section. The third section briefly analyzes the state of environmental regulation and taxation in Ukraine, possible impact of environmental regulation in neighbouring countries on its environment and elements of such regulation in the EEU and BRICS member countries that could add in improving environmental policy of Ukraine and fulfilling the requirements of the Association agreement with the EU. All recommendations are summarized in the conclusions