DEVELOPMENT OF THE MOUNTAIN TERRITORIES OF UKRAINE AS A COMPONENT OF THE EU STRATEGY FOR THE CARPATHIAN REGION

Abstract

The article presents a historical and comparative analysis of the formation and development of the public policy for the development of the mountainous territories of the Ukrainian Carpathians as an integral component of the EU strategy for the Carpathian region, which is the purpose of this work. Systematic and historical-comparative analysis of the public policy of the European Union and Ukraine make up the methodology of the conducted research. The scientific novelty consists in the generalization and systematization of the historical progress of the formation and implementation of the European and Ukrainian public policy for the development of the Carpathian region from 1991 to 2022. It is substantiated that the Carpathian region has a strategic importance in the development of the territories of Central-Eastern Europe, which plays an important role for the integration of the European transnational space due to its set of common features and challenges. The most important directions of joint activities for the further development of the Carpathian macro-region at the local, national and international levels are: mitigating the consequences of climate change and protecting biodiversity, ensuring access to green energy, increasing the competitiveness and cohesion of the Carpathian region, including the use of endogenous innovation potential. It is substantiated that the further development of the Ukrainian Carpathians is impossible without the sustainable development of the Carpathian macro-region as a whole, the strengthening of interstate cooperation and the development of partnership relations aimed at ensuring a joint response to challenges based on the principles and values defined by the Carpathian Convention, which includes, in particular, the need formation and implementation of the policy of cohesion and transnational cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union, development of appropriate macro-regional strategies for the sustainable development of the Carpathian mountain areas as an element of European integration. It was concluded that the use of the resources of the Carpathians should be carried out in a sustainable and rational way, with respect for cultural heritage and the environment, and should bring benefits to people and nature, for whom the task is to adapt not only to the growing human pressure, but also to climate change and deterioration of the quality of ecological components.