European Commission presented a report on EU enlargement: it assessed Ukraine's progress but pointed to the "need to accelerate the pace of reforms"
Kyiv • UNN
The European Commission presented its annual Enlargement Package, noting Ukraine's progress in key reforms and the fulfillment of conditions for opening negotiation clusters. The Commission believes that to achieve Ukraine's ambitious goal of accession by the end of 2028, an acceleration of the pace of reforms is necessary, especially regarding the rule of law.
The European Commission presented its annual Enlargement Package report on the progress of candidate countries on their path to EU membership, noting Ukraine's progress in key reforms and Kyiv's fulfillment of the conditions necessary to open negotiation clusters for accession, but noting that it believes that "an acceleration of the pace of reforms is needed, especially regarding 'fundamentals', including the rule of law," writes UNN.
Details
"Today, the European Commission adopted its annual Enlargement Package, which presents a comprehensive assessment of the progress made by enlargement partners over the past 12 months," the statement said.
As noted regarding Ukraine, "despite Russia's relentless war of aggression, Ukraine remains firmly committed to its path to EU accession, having successfully completed the screening process and advanced in key reforms." "Ukraine has adopted roadmaps on the rule of law, public administration and the functioning of democratic institutions, as well as an action plan on national minorities, which the European Commission assessed positively," the European institution's statement said.
Ukraine has fulfilled the conditions necessary to open the clusters: the first ("Fundamentals"), the sixth ("External relations") and the second ("Internal market"). The European Commission expects Ukraine to fulfill the conditions for opening the remaining three clusters, and is working to enable the Council (EU) to proceed with opening all clusters by the end of the year.
As reported, "the government of Ukraine has stated its goal to provisionally close accession negotiations by the end of 2028."
The European Commission is committed to supporting this ambitious goal, but believes that to achieve it, an acceleration of the pace of reforms is needed, especially regarding "fundamentals," including the rule of law.
As reported by Rikard Jozwiak, Europe editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, "EU Enlargement Commissioner (Marta) Kos says that Ukraine and Moldova could open all chapters/clusters for accession as early as November." "Very bold. Of course, this requires unanimity among member states, and that is still not there," Jozwiak wrote on X.