A New Pact for Ukraine: How to Make EU Aid Work

Ukraine badly needs external aid from Western donors, but the money should be spent well. Past experience offers five indispensable lessons. In response to these, the EU needs to ensure sound public finance management and avoid mis-management; give priority to building governance structures over freeing up spending; and create a high-level advisory mission, to focus first on the rule of law and democracy, and then on long-term economic transition reforms. With the EU’s financial capacities seriously limited, the bloc must at least ensure that the quality of support is high.