The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved Ukraineʼs next negotiating positions on accession to the European Union in two clusters.
This was reported by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal during a government meeting on May 30.
"The government recently approved Ukraineʼs negotiating position on the first cluster, ʼFundamentals of the EU accession processʼ. The document has already been submitted to the European Commission. Today, we are considering and approving the negotiating positions on the second cluster, ʼDomestic Marketʼ, and the sixth, ʼForeign Relationsʼ," Shmyhal said.
Denys Shmyhal emphasized that the second cluster covers key areas of the functioning of the EU Single Market — from the free movement of goods, services, labor and capital to competition rules and consumer protection, which is important for Ukrainian business and citizens. The sixth cluster defines Ukraineʼs role in the common foreign policy, security and defense of the European Union, which includes, among other things, our stateʼs contribution to the stability of Europe and the protection of the continent from the Russian threat.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the aforementioned official documents with Ukrainian proposals define priorities and obligations on the path to EU membership. He also announced that the European Commission plans to open negotiations on the first cluster in June.
"We have covered the distance from submitting an application for membership in the European Union to the start of pre-accession negotiations in record time. The ambitious goal for 2025 is to open all six negotiation clusters with the EU on a parallel basis," Shmyhal emphasized.
- Ukraine applied for membership in the European Union on February 28, 2022, four days after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. In June 2022, Ukraine officially became a candidate for membership of the European Union, and within a year, Ukraine and the EU officially began membership negotiations.
- Ukraine and Moldova will jointly open the first negotiating cluster for EU accession. Previously, Brussels considered the option of separating Moldova from Ukraine in the accession process. All because Hungary is blocking Kyivʼs efforts to join.
- For example, in April 2025, the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán called on Hungarians to vote against Ukraineʼs membership in the EU in a national poll. The Hungarian government explicitly states that Ukraineʼs accelerated accession to the EU would allegedly negatively affect the lives of all Hungarians and cause enormous losses to the country.
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