Ukraine and the European Union (EU) officially started membership negotiations on June 25.
The negotiations started with the intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg, where official delegations from Kyiv and Brussels arrived. The Ukrainian delegation consists of 13 members and is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna.
As DW reports, Olha Stefanishyna, opening the conference, said that Ukraine plans to fully prepare for joining the EU by 2030. The representatives of the European Union noted that the negotiations will be strict and time-consuming.
At todayʼs conference, the parties exchange positions and statements regarding the preliminary negotiations on the substance, which will begin with the opening of the negotiation chapters. In July, the preparatory process for the main part of the negotiations — screening — will begin. These will be bilateral meetings, at which Ukraine will present the level of approximation of its legislation to the EU according to 35 chapters. After the screening, the parties will start the first block of negotiations. This process is quite long and takes at least a year.
"Today the negotiations start. Between these steps — thousands of meetings and calls. Conditions that Ukraine has fully fulfilled. Laws that were adopted and worked. And the most important thing is the determination of our people, our people," commented President Volodymyr Zelensky at the beginning of the negotiations.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba there will be six clusters of negotiations, which will be opened and closed by the decision of the Council of the EU. Negotiation groups from Ukraine and the EU will work on this to bring Ukrainian legislation into line with the blocʼs standards.
When the membership negotiations are completed, there will be three more steps:
- The conclusion of the European Commission on the successful completion of negotiations and Ukraineʼs achievement of compliance with the accession criteria;
- Decision on signing the Agreement on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU:
- Ratification of the agreement by the parliaments of EU member states and acquisition of full membership of Ukraine in the bloc.
On June 23, 2023, Ukraine officially became a candidate for membership of the European Union.