These conditions will be finally approved at a meeting of the European Council after the implementation of all recommendations of the European Commission.

The European Commission has begun work on a draft institutional framework for opening negotiations with Ukraine.

According to an correspondent, Ana Pisonero, press secretary of the European Commission for enlargement, neighborhood and international partnerships, said this at a briefing in Brussels.

Pisonero recalled that in December 2023, the European Council asked the European Commission to approve the negotiating framework as soon as Ukraine takes the necessary steps.

“We are now assessing the latest measures that were approved by the Verkhovna Rada to actually implement the remaining steps. And we are ready to report to the EU Council if necessary,” Pisonero said.

“We have already started working on a draft negotiating framework in order to also send it to the EU Council in the coming weeks,” she emphasized.

Ukraine’s accession to the EU

On December 14, 2023, the heads of state and government of the EU member states decided to begin negotiations with Ukraine and Molodova on accession, and in connection with this, they gave a recommendation to the European Commission to approve organizational aspects for the negotiation process.

In particular, the conclusions of the European Council following the December summit stated that the organizational framework for negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union will be finally approved after all the recommendations of the European Commission are implemented.

Ukraine must finally implement all seven recommendations of the European Commission, voiced after Ukraine was granted the status of a candidate country for accession.

By March 2024, Ukraine must practically implement a number of laws and demonstrate progress in the fight against corruption.

In particular, the Verkhovna Rada has already approved the vast majority of the necessary laws: on strengthening the independence of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, on strengthening the institutional capabilities of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (provides for increasing the maximum number of NABU staff from 700 to 1000 people) and on providing the opportunity for the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption to check property of officials acquired before entering public service.

In addition, the Verkhovna Rada supported amendments to some laws regarding taking into account the expert assessment of the Council of Europe and its bodies regarding the rights of national minorities (communities) in certain areas (it is stipulated that private higher education institutions have the right to freely choose the language of instruction, which is the official EU language). These four laws have already been signed by President Vladimir Zelensky. Now they need to be implemented.