By the end of 2022, Ukraine plans to implement the recommendations of the European Commission on granting the status of a candidate for EU membership.
This was announced at a briefing on Wednesday, June 22, by Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Olha Stefanishina.
"The European Commission has identified seven areas for us, they are not absolutely difficult, each of them serves the interests of the country. These are issues related to the implementation of amendments to the legislation on the High Council of Justice and the High Qualifications Commission of Judges — the formation of these institutions, as well as changes to the legislation on the selection of judges to the Constitutional Court, the beginning of the NABU director. These measures are already being implemented to some extent, but we will speed up this process. We plan to complete it by the end of the year," Stefanishina said.
At the end of 2022, the European Commission will prepare a conclusion and assessment of how effectively Ukraine has coped with this task.
Stefanishina said that after the decision to grant Ukraine candidate status, the priority will be to restore Ukraine, rebuild infrastructure, support the economy and end the war — with the mobilization of additional military support.
In addition, candidate status gives Ukraine a completely different status in relations with the EU, in particular Ukraine as a candidate country gets access to EU structural funds: "These are absolutely unmeasurable funds compared to what we had. They will be fully focused on rebuilding the country and building a sustainable competitive economy. It is about hundreds of billions of euros that will be available after receiving the status," Stefanishina explained.
Candidate status is the first legal decision in Ukraineʼs history to determine that a country will be part of the EU.
- On June 17, the European Commission recommended granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership, then this decision should be supported by EU countries (voting will take place at the summit on June 23-24). The European Commission has also approved certain conditions that Ukraine must meet in order to start formal accession negotiations.