European Commission prepares cautious plan for Ukraine’s EU accession — Politico Europe
In Brussels, Belgium, the European Commission is preparing a cautious roadmap for Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations. The document provides for limited targets for 2027 and does not contain a commitment to a specific date for Ukraine’s membership in the European Union, Politico Europe reports.
In the draft document, the European Commission calls on Kyiv to “urgently and substantially accelerate the pace of reforms in the area of the rule of law.” Meeting key requirements in this area in the first half of 2027 is necessary for negotiations in individual areas to be provisionally closed.
Seven areas for 2027
The roadmap, which is part of the European Commission’s enlargement package, identifies seven negotiating areas in which Ukraine could potentially provisionally close negotiations in 2027. In the first half of the year, these are education and culture, and in the second half, intellectual property, employment and social policy, industrial policy, research, external relations, as well as foreign and security policy.
To join the EU, a candidate country must align its legislation and institutions with the bloc’s standards across 35 negotiating chapters. The European Commission notes that such changes require extensive consultations, time and resources. To support the Ukrainian authorities, Brussels has established a special working group.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Moldova may move faster
The document also points to a difference in the pace of Ukraine’s and Moldova’s European integration. For Ukraine, Brussels is targeting progress in seven areas in 2027, while Moldova, according to the European Commission’s assessment, may complete negotiations in more than 20 areas.
Ukraine and Moldova applied to join the EU in 2022, received candidate status simultaneously in June of that year, and officially began negotiations in June 2024. In October, the countries opened negotiations on the EU internal market, competitiveness and economic growth.
The European Commission also seeks to open two negotiating clusters for Ukraine by the end of 2026 that have not yet been opened: cluster 4 on green policy and sustainable connectivity, and cluster 5 on resources, agriculture and cohesion. The Commission considers that Ukraine has met the necessary conditions for this.
The document describes the roadmap as a “living document” that may be updated depending on the course of negotiations and the pace of reforms. Even the provisional closure of negotiations in individual areas will not mean automatic accession: an accession treaty will still be required, which must be approved and ratified.
