The European Commission has recommended opening EU membership negotiations with Ukraine, as an official EU candidate country, as well as Moldova, which is expected to obtain the candidate country status once it meets final conditions.
According to a report published by the EU Commission, Ukraine has met requirements set for EU accession that are related to media legislation, the operation of the judiciary and the appointment of judges, as well as intensifying the fight against money laundering.
We’ve adopted our 2023 Enlargement Package recommending to open negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, to grant candidate status to Georgia, and to open accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina once the necessary degree of compliance is achieved.
Some of the fields that the EU Commission hopes for Ukraine to improve include the fight against corruption, limiting the influence of oligarchs and lobbyists and protecting the status of national minorities through legislation.
On the other hand, the proposals are expected to provide technical guidance to 27 EU member states on the progress that the candidate countries have made as they attempt to align laws and standards with those of the bloc.
President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that Ukraine had met almost 90 per cent of the requirements the commission set last year, especially those related to judicial reforms and anti-corruption efforts.
The remaining reforms are already on their way, that’s good, and the commission commends these efforts. And on this basis, we have recommended today that the council opens accession negotiations. – President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen
EU leads are expected to decide whether to follow the recommendations at a summit in Brussels on December 14 and 15. However, some of the expectations are that Hungary and Slovakia can be against following the recommendation regarding Ukraine.
The release of the commission’s annual enlargement report has been postponed several times, as the EU member states were concerned it would ‘hijack’ discussions on issues like the bloc’s budget and migration ahead of Brussels’ summit held on October 26 to 27.
Moldova, like Ukraine, has received a positive response from Brussels regarding its European aspirations, with the EC pointing out that the country has improved in some fields.
Moldova has progressed steadily in meeting the nine steps set out in its membership application, including comprehensive reforms on justice, anti-corruption, and public administration. – EU Commission
On the other hand, Moldovan President Maia Sandu welcomed the news and was grateful that Moldova was ‘finally on the path to EU membership.”
Ukraine and Moldova were granted official EU candidate countries in June of 2022.
