The European Commission does not specify an accession date for Ukraine, while providing a more ambitious roadmap for Moldova — Politico
Kyiv • UNN
The European Commission plans to conclude Ukraine’s negotiations in seven areas in 2027. Brussels is not setting an accession date and is demanding that reforms be accelerated.
The European Commission is preparing a more cautious roadmap for Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations, setting limited targets for progress in 2027 while avoiding any commitments regarding a membership date. Politico reports this, citing a document it obtained, writes UNN.
Details
In the document, Brussels calls on Kyiv to "urgently and significantly accelerate the pace of reforms in the area of the rule of law." Fulfillment of key requirements in this area in the first half of 2027 is necessary before negotiations in individual policy areas can be provisionally concluded, the roadmap states.
The document, which is part of the European Commission’s "enlargement package" to be presented on Wednesday, November 4, identifies seven policy areas in which Ukraine may provisionally conclude negotiations next year, in 2027. It emphasizes how much Ukraine still has to do before joining the bloc, as well as the difficulty of carrying out the necessary reforms during wartime.
Separation from Moldova
The document also highlights the growing divergence between Ukraine and Moldova, whose membership applications have long advanced in parallel. Moldova is now seen as capable of making significantly faster progress, increasing the prospect of the two countries’ membership applications being effectively separated, the publication writes.
While Brussels aims to achieve progress in seven policy areas for Ukraine in 2027, Moldova may conclude negotiations in more than 20 areas, as the document shows.
Ukraine applied to join the EU on February 28, 2022, just four days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Moldova and Ukraine were granted candidate status together in June 2022 and officially began membership negotiations on the same day in June 2024.
Since then, Kyiv has completed a detailed assessment of how its laws compare with EU rules, and negotiations have officially begun in several major policy areas. In October, Ukraine and Moldova began negotiations covering the EU internal market, competitiveness, and economic growth.
A long road ahead
EU accession requires much more than political commitments. Candidate countries must align their legislation and institutions with EU standards in 35 negotiating areas, known in Brussels jargon as chapters. They range from agriculture and food safety to competition rules, the independence of the judiciary, and foreign policy.
The European Commission’s roadmap identifies only seven such areas in which Ukraine may provisionally conclude negotiations in 2027. Education and culture are targets for the first half of the year, while intellectual property, employment and social policy, industrial policy, research, external relations, and foreign and security policy are targets for the second half.
The European Commission acknowledges that the changes are complex and require broad consultations, time, and resources. To help Ukraine make progress, Brussels has created a special task force to provide additional support to the Ukrainian authorities.
The difficulties are compounded by the war, which places extraordinary demands on Ukraine’s government and parliament as they seek to adopt and implement the legislation required for EU membership.
In the document, the European Commission "is cautious about setting a final date for Ukraine’s accession negotiations, taking a similarly cautious approach to other leading EU membership candidates, including Albania and Moldova." Montenegro is an exception, with June 2027 set as the target for signing the accession treaty.
Ukraine’s roadmap is described as a "living document" that can be updated as the negotiations progress, leaving open the possibility of concluding negotiations in additional policy areas sooner if reforms advance faster than expected, the publication notes.
The shadow of war
The uncertainty also reflects the broader challenge of admitting a country at war, the publication notes.
EU rules do not explicitly bar a country at war from becoming a member, but Ukraine’s accession would raise complex questions regarding security, territory, and the obligations EU countries would assume toward another member under the bloc’s mutual assistance provisions, the publication notes.
Even a peaceful settlement would not automatically resolve these issues or eliminate the need for Ukraine to complete its reforms. And completing negotiations in individual policy areas would still leave Kyiv facing further steps toward membership, including an accession treaty that requires approval and ratification, the publication writes.
The European Commission reportedly also wants negotiations on the two remaining negotiating clusters for Ukraine to begin by the end of 2026. These are Cluster 4, covering the green agenda and sustainable connectivity, and Cluster 5, covering resources, agriculture, and cohesion.
The document states that "the European Commission considers Ukraine to have fulfilled the necessary conditions and calls on the Accession Conference to make every effort to open the remaining clusters by the end of the year."
Opening them would allow Ukraine to advance negotiations on the remaining policy areas, although the pace of further progress would remain dependent on reforms and the corresponding decisions of the member states, the publication notes.