Ukraine awaits EU's decision on accession negotiations by March 12 – deputy PM
The European Commission must present the negotiating framework and evaluate Ukraine's progress in reforms by March 12 to commence negotiations for Ukraine's joining the European Union.
The Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Olha Stefanishyna, stated this, according to Suspilne and UNN.
"We expect that no later than March 12, the European Commission will present the negotiating framework and assess the progress in reforms so that already on March 19, EU countries can make a decision (regarding the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU)," the minister said.
Stefanishyna expressed hope that there will be no delays with this.
At the same time, she talked about "sad cases" when the European Commission received appeals due to internal problems in the Verkhovna Rada [Ukraine's parliament – ed.]. This seems to be an appeal from the "European Solidarity" party about not allowing opposition representatives abroad.
"This is an unfortunate practice; I do not know what impact it will have. I hope that when we say that we are a team – Ukraine- on all strategic issues, we will remain so even when we have complex processes within the state. And as of (February 24, 2024), we had an obvious algorithm [regarding the start of negotiations – ed.], so now it is difficult to predict whether it will be implemented given recent events," said Stefanishyna.
For reference:
As Rubryka wrote, on November 8, the European Commission officially recommended that the EU states start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union.
At the same time, the EC presented a report on Ukraine's progress in 2023 with further recommendations. Among them is the need to implement all the recommendations of the Venice Commission regarding national minorities, namely to make some changes to the legislation on the state language, mass media, and education.
Recently, the Office of the President noted that Ukraine has fulfilled more than 90% of the recommendations of the European Commission.
On February 24, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the European Commission is preparing to provide general framework conditions for starting negotiations with Ukraine on joining the EU in March 2024.
It should be noted that after the unanimous decision of the European Council to start negotiations, Ukraine must implement EU laws and standards. Each EU member state must confirm compliance with all requirements.
Starting negotiations with another country at the same time does not guarantee completion at the same time, as the pace of the talks depends on the speed of reforms and alignment with EU legislation in each country.
