European Commission: Ukraine has made significant progress toward EU membership

The European Commission on Nov. 4 adopted its annual Enlargement Package, assessing the progress of EU candidate countries, including Ukraine, who are on their path toward membership.

According to the report, despite the ongoing full-scale war, Ukraine continues to demonstrate determination and tangible progress in implementing the reforms necessary for its future EU accession.

As reported by Ukrinform with reference to the European Commission’s website, the document reaffirms that enlargement remains one of the EU’s top priorities and that the prospect of new member states joining the bloc is becoming increasingly realistic.

“Despite Russia’s unrelenting war of aggression, Ukraine remains strongly committed to its EU accession path, having successfully completed the screening process and advanced on key reforms,” the report states.

The European Commission positively assessed Ukraine’s adoption of reform roadmaps in the areas of the rule of law, public administration, democratic institutions, and the protection of national minorities. It noted that Ukraine has already met the conditions to open three negotiation clusters — “Fundamentals,” “Internal Market,” and “External Relations.”

By the end of the year, Ukraine is expected to meet the criteria for opening the remaining clusters, which would allow the European Council to move to the next stage of accession talks.

“The Ukrainian government has signalled its objective to provisionally close accession negotiations by the end of 2028. The Commission is committed to support this ambitious objective but considers that, to meet it an acceleration of the pace of reforms is required, notably with regards to the fundamentals, in particular rule of law,” the report says.

The commission also mentioned that the gradual integration of candidate countries into the EU’s single market helps strengthen their ties with the EU even before full membership.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called enlargement a “clear political priority of the current mandate.”

“We are more committed than ever to turning EU enlargement into a reality. Because a larger Union means a stronger and more influential Europe on the global stage. But enlargement is a merit-based process. Our package provides specific recommendations to all our partners. And to all of them we say: EU accession is a unique offer,” von der Leyen said.

The report also underscores the need for stronger safeguards in future accession treaties to ensure that new member states uphold commitments in the areas of rule of law, democracy, and human rights.

The European Commission further highlighted the importance of countering disinformation, foreign interference, and manipulation, as well as building greater public trust in the enlargement process.

According to the report, the Commission intends to continue supporting candidate countries, ensuring a balance between their readiness for accession and the EU’s own capacity to welcome new members.