The European Commission has prepared a negotiating framework for Ukraineʼs membership in the EU

The European Commission has prepared a negotiating framework for the membership of Ukraine and Moldova in the EU. Now it will begin to be discussed among the member states of the European Union.

This was reported by the press service of the European Commission.

The negotiating framework sets out the principles of the accession negotiations for each candidate country. The project prepared by the European Commission consists of three parts:

• principles governing accession negotiations;
• the essence of negotiations;
• negotiation procedure.

It is noted that the goal of the negotiations is the adoption by Ukraine and Moldova of the EU legal system in its entirety and ensuring the full implementation and enforcement of European legislation.

After final approval, the EU will hold an intergovernmental conference with Ukraine and Moldova — and then accession negotiations will officially begin.

When will we become a member of the EU?

This will happen only after Ukraine fulfills all requirements and fully implements all European standards.

There are various examples in the history of EU enlargement. Finland applied in 1992, and already in 1995 it became a member of the European Union. Poland applied in 1994 and joined the EU 10 years later. The last country to join the European Union is Croatia. It applied in 2003 and became a new member of the EU in 2013.

There are also countries that still remain candidates for admission. These are four Balkan countries: Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Turkey has the same status. But in all these countries the process is stalled. Turkey does not meet the requirements of the EU at all and shows no desire to join it. In Serbia, the majority of the population does not want to join the European Union, and the country itself has close ties with Russia. Albania has not even started accession negotiations, and in Montenegro, with the change of government, the foreign policy orientation is also changing — sometimes towards the EU, then towards Serbia. North Macedonia is doing the most to join the European Union, but its progress is being blocked by its neighbors. First Greece demanded to change the name — and the Macedonians did it, now Bulgaria demands from North Macedonia to recognize that its people and language have Bulgarian roots and come from Bulgaria.

The most important thing is that after receiving the candidate status, everything depends on the Ukrainian authorities. She received a clear list of reforms that must be implemented, and society has the opportunity to control this process. In addition, the candidate status will mean access to financial funds of the European Union — in fact, the EU itself will provide money for reforms. One thing can be said for sure: the sooner Ukraine reforms, the sooner it can become a member of the EU.

On December 14, 2023, EU leaders agreed to start negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union.