EU Commissioner details potential routes for Ukraine's membership
Photo: Marta Kos, EU Commissioner (Getty Images)
The European Union is considering only two scenarios for Ukraine’s membership in the European Union. One of them is non-standard, states EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos at a meeting with journalists.
Commenting on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s initiative regarding associated membership for Ukraine in the European Union, Kos noted that it is still only an idea. Discussions on this issue are ongoing.
The EU Commissioner clarified that there are three theoretical scenarios for the EU’s interaction with candidate countries:
- The current model under existing rules — countries integrate into the EU only after full membership.
- Partial sectoral integration, when a candidate country joins specific EU policy areas after meeting the necessary requirements; this is already partially the case with Ukraine. Another example is Norway and Switzerland participating in the Schengen Area despite not being EU members.
- Reverse membership, when a country is admitted to the EU "in advance" — according to Kos, this idea was rejected after discussions.
As of now, the EU and Ukraine are working on intensifying the second scenario.
What Merz proposed
In May it became known that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed the idea of "associated membership" for Ukraine in the European Union.
The idea, in particular, envisages that Ukrainian officials would take part in EU summits and meetings of ministers, but would not be granted voting rights.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to Reuters, described in his letter the idea of leaving Ukraine without voting rights as unfair.
