The European Union is discussing a new “facilitated membership” model that could allow Ukraine to join the EU more quickly as part of a potential peace deal, but without the full range of rights enjoyed by current member states.
This is reported by the Financial Times, citing sources.
According to the publicationʼs sources, Ukraine will initially not have full voting rights at leadersʼ summits and ministerial meetings. Kyiv will gradually gain access to parts of the blocʼs single market, its agricultural subsidies and domestic development financing.
“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. We are not undermining enlargement. We are expanding the concept of enlargement. The rules were written over 30 years ago. And they need to be more flexible. This is a once-in-a-generation moment and we must seize it,” said one senior EU diplomat.
The European Commission understands that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will only be able to agree to the complex aspects of a possible peace agreement if Ukraine is able to join the bloc.
But diplomats from EU member states fear that this will negatively affect the blocʼs future stability, devalue the value of membership and anger other candidate countries.
“This is a trap set by Putin and Trump, and we are falling into it,” said one of them.
A large group of current EU members, while eager to support Ukraine, are categorically against any measures that could create loopholes in the rules or establish a two-tier membership system.
Other officials said that any moves to adjust the enlargement process would also undermine the ambitions of other accession candidates and raise broader questions about the EUʼs interactions with its close neighbors.
- Ukraine became a candidate for EU membership in 2022, after the start of a full-scale war with Russia. Progress in negotiations is being blocked by Hungary, which does not agree to the opening of negotiation chapters.
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