European Commission Sets Out Ukraine Accession Roadmap: Seven Areas Could Provisionally Close in 2027, Rule-of-Law Reforms Must Accelerate
BRUSSELS — The European Commission said in its annual enlargement report on November 4 that the Ukrainian government has signalled its objective to close accession negotiations by the end of 2028. The Commission said it is committed to supporting that ambitious objective but considers that an acceleration of the pace of reforms — above all in the rule of law — is required to meet it.
According to the roadmap document reported by Reuters and Politico, the Commission identified seven policy areas in which Ukraine may provisionally conclude negotiations in 2027: education and culture are targeted for the first half of the year, while intellectual property, employment and social policy, industrial policy, research, external relations, and foreign and security policy are targeted for the second half. Fulfilment of key rule-of-law requirements in the first half of 2027 is necessary before negotiations in individual areas can be provisionally concluded, the document states.
The Commission also said Ukraine has fulfilled the necessary conditions and called for every effort to open the two remaining negotiating clusters — the green agenda and sustainable connectivity, and resources, agriculture and cohesion — by the end of this year.
The Commission did not specify an accession date for Ukraine and described the roadmap as a "living document" that can be updated as negotiations progress. In the same package, Moldova has signalled an objective to provisionally close negotiations by early 2028, while Montenegro is an exception, with June 2027 set as the target for signing its accession treaty.
Ukraine applied to join the EU on February 28, 2022, four days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, and was granted candidate status alongside Moldova in June 2022. EU membership remains a core foreign-policy goal of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's government, presented as a path to long-term security and prosperity.
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：欧盟与乌克兰（资料图，本站档案图）。 / Photo: The European Union and Ukraine (file photo, GSM archive).
