Правові засади становлення та розвитку транскордонного та регіонального співробітництва між Україною та Європейським Союзом

The article examines the legal principles of the formation and development of cross-border and regional cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union. Having summarized the entire complex of special legal literature, it is determined that the legal principles of the formation and development of cross-border and regional cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union have practically not been studied by legal science. It is established that the current policy of Ukraine is marked by a European integration priority, the implementation of which is impossible outside the format of cooperation with the European Union, including cross-border and regional cooperation. The process of forming the studied sphere of legal relations is determined, the main trends and features of the development of these relations at different stages of historical development are determined, it is determined that the functioning of cross-border and regional cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union can be possible only under the condition of sufficient and proper regulatory regulation. It has been studied that Ukraine’s intentions to develop relations with the European Union were first enshrined in a Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and later recorded in the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Ukraine and the European Communities and their Member States, and the requirements for cross-border and regional cooperation were defined in the Ukraine-European Union Action Plan «European Neighborhood Policy», and later became more detailed in the Association Agreement between Ukraine, on the one hand, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, on the other hand. It was found that although the analysed regulatory legal acts of Ukraine have become somewhat oriented towards the norms of European Union law in the field of cross-border cooperation and regional cooperation, they still need improvement in terms of unification of terminology in the field of cross-border cooperation and regional cooperation; clear regulation of the status of the cross-border cooperation body under the euroregional cooperation groupings, clear regulation of the competence of local authorities regarding forms of cross-border cooperation, etc.