The EU’s policy transfer to the post-Soviet space in a context of rival trade integration frameworks: the case of food safety

Deep economic integration (defi ned as integration ‘going beyond free trade in goods and services . . . , addressing non-tariff barriers and progressively achieving comprehensive convergence in trade and regulatory areas’ [European Commission 2006: 4]) is a cornerstone of the EU’s offer under the Eastern Partnership. In recent years, it has moved to the centre stage of both the EU’s policy transfer and rivalry with Russia in the ‘contested neighbourhood’. Trade bans imposed by Russia on several Eastern Partnership countries and EU counter-measures suggest that the effectiveness of EU-driven change in trade-related areas is challenged by a number of factors that entangle domestic reforms and competing integration regimes.