Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister said what stage Ukraine is at in terms of screening legislation by the EU
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine is moving faster than other EU candidates in the screening process
Ukraine is already moving at a much faster pace than other EU candidate countries in terms of the EU's legislative screening procedure. Ivan Nagornyak, Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, told UNN about the current stage of Kyiv's progress and the specifics of the screening process on the way to the EU.
Details
"The official screening of each candidate state is part of the negotiation process for EU accession. Its features are described in the EU enlargement methodology, which was last updated in 2020. Its main goal is to determine the degree of legal approximation of Ukrainian legislation to EU acquis, as well as the steps that Ukraine should take to strengthen its institutions and implement EU law at a sufficient level for future functioning as an EU member. This EU law is divided into 33 negotiating chapters (chapters 34 - "institutions" and 35 "other issues" are not part of the screening)," explained Nagornyak.
He noted that the official screening of Ukraine includes several main stages:
1) Explanatory Sessions - at this stage, the EU explains the specifics of the functioning of EU law in each of the 33 chapters and holds direct meetings with Ukraine, where our ministries and agencies can ask the European Commission representatives all the clarifying questions. This phase should last until the end of May 2024.
2) Bilateral Meetings - during this stage, the Ukrainian side presents its vision of the implementation of the EU acquis in the relevant sections and answers the European Commission's clarifying questions about the readiness and possibility of financing the relevant reforms.
"We cannot say for sure how long this phase will last, as we have not yet received a clear calendar plan from the European Commission. For some candidate countries, this phase lasted more than six months," Nagornyak said.
According to him, after the bilateral meetings on each section of the screening, the European Commission prepares a Screening Report, which presents the vision of Ukraine and the European Commission on the state of regulatory approximation of Ukraine to EU law in that section and provides clear recommendations on what Ukraine needs to do to achieve the necessary progress.
"It is on the basis of these reports that the European Commission prepares benchmarks (conditions) for opening and closing negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the EU in this particular negotiation section," Nagornyak said.
When asked how long the screening procedure for Ukrainian legislation is expected to take, Mr. Nagornyak replied: "Thanks to the so-called "self-screening" in 2023, Ukraine has prepared quite well for the official screening. We can promptly answer all the questions that the European Commission is interested in.
Nagornyak noted that the European Commission has already met Ukraine halfway and shared the screening materials with North Macedonia and Albania, which will help prepare for bilateral meetings with the EU.
Therefore, we are confident that if this process can be accelerated, we will use every opportunity to do so. We are already moving at a much faster pace than other candidate countries
He also informed about the current stage of the screening procedure.
"We are now starting Explanatory Sessions. In particular, we are preparing for the first meeting to be held on February 21-22 on Chapter 23 - Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights. The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the team of the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration have a huge responsibility to properly prepare this meeting. In the future, they will be held almost every week until the end of May 2024, as mentioned earlier," said Nagornyak.