Merz proposed "associate membership" for Ukraine in the EU as an intermediate step toward integration
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has reportedly proposed introducing a new "associate membership" format for Ukraine within the EU until it attains full membership status.
This was reported by Spiegel.
According to the publication, Merz outlined his vision in a letter to European leaders, emphasizing that EU expansion is a geopolitical necessity, but the accession process itself remains lengthy.
He emphasizes that Ukraine is in a unique situation due to the war, but at the same time has already made significant progress in membership negotiations.
The aim of the proposal is to create an interim status that would partially meet Kyiv’s demand for faster integration without completely changing the current accession procedure.
Under the proposed model, Ukraine could be granted expanded rights and obligations, including:
participation in meetings of the EU Council and the European Council with voting rights,
participation in the work of the European Commission and the European Parliament without voting rights,
gradual integration into the EU budget,
extension of Article 42.7 of the EU Treaty on mutual defense to Ukraine
special status in the Court of Justice of the EU with the position of Assistant Rapporteur.
It is separately emphasized that the application of the mutual assistance clause should provide Ukraine with additional security guarantees, which is also consistent with international initiatives to support Kyiv.
Mertz also proposes establishing a mechanism that would allow for the curtailment of the rights associated with such status in the event of a rollback of reforms or a departure from the EU’s core values.
Similar ideas of “partial membership” have previously been discussed as a possible compromise between:
Ukraine’s rapid accession to the EU and the need to preserve the standard procedure for EU enlargement without political exceptions.
It is noted separately that for Moldova and the Western Balkan countries, Merz proposes other models of accelerated integration.
The European Union has moved to the practical stage of preparing Montenegro’s accession treaty. The country continues on its path toward EU integration and has declared its intention to become a member by 2028.
Ukraine hopes that the European Union will open all six negotiation clusters regarding the country’s accession this year and also anticipates the possibility of closing at least one of them by the end of the year.
Ukraine may temporarily forgo some of the benefits of EU membership to accelerate the accession process. Taras Kachka noted that such a step would help the country integrate into the EU more quickly.
