Ukraine in the Scientific-Technological and Innovation Spaces of the European Union: Problems, Positive Results and Integration Directions

Strong international cooperation is a significant factor to develop an efficient national system of research and innovation that promotes the country’s innovation progress, strengthens its scientific and innovative capacity. This study is devoted to the issues of Ukrainian integration into the scientific-technological and innovation spaces of the European Union (EU) in the context of signing the Association Agreement and the Horizon 2020 Agreement, which provided an opportunity for Ukrainian scientists and entrepreneurs to move to a qualitatively new level of cooperation with the EU. The study indicates an unsatisfactory rate of Ukrainian integration in the European scientific-technological and innovation spaces: many significant problems and difficulties linked to this have been identified, but some progress has also been noted. In the article, these problems and positive changes have been grouped under blocks of a legislative (legal), conceptual and organizational nature, as well as by the sphere of activities of the authorities and government priorities. The policy and developmental characteristics of European scientific-technological and innovation spheres have been considered. Based on the analysis of international documents and Ukrainian legislation, current and future goals and priorities of the European research area, considering the progress of Ukraine’s implementation of the Association Agreement, the experience of participating in European programs, based on the interests of international cooperation, the directions of strengthening scientific-technological and innovation cooperation of Ukraine and the EU have been identified. The implementation of these directions will facilitate the harmonization of national policies in the field of science, technology and innovation with the European policy for the free exchange of knowledge, data, skills, and experience through the cooperation of scientists and entrepreneurs, the creation of joint research infrastructure, the implementation of international projects, will allow Ukraine to reduce the innovation gap with advanced European countries and contribute the search for answers of global and national problems.