EU preparing special roadmap for Ukraine's membership
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos (photo: Getty Images)
The European Union is preparing indicative road maps for four candidate countries seeking to join the bloc: Montenegro, Albania, Moldova, and Ukraine. However, Ukraine's road map will differ from the others, according to EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos.
Road maps for EU accession
The road maps are expected by October 28.
Kos said the EU was preparing road maps for the four most advanced candidate countries: Montenegro, Albania, Moldova, and Ukraine. She noted that these countries had made significant progress in readiness over the past several years.
According to her, the EU wants to help these candidate countries maintain the pace of reforms. The road maps will therefore set out indicative timelines and specific tasks that need to be completed.
The EU commissioner said this would provide greater predictability on accession, while the process would continue to be based on each candidate country's individual achievements.
Special road map for Ukraine
At the same time, Kos noted that Ukraine's situation is significantly different from that of these countries because of the war. Therefore, work on Ukraine's road map is still ongoing, and it will be somewhat different.
The commissioner said that many steps have already been taken regarding Ukraine as part of the technical negotiations. These include opening clusters, then reaching benchmarks and eventually closing chapters.
"Therefore, it will be easier to determine how the whole situation (the war — ed.) will be reflected in the conditions of the accession treaty and what this will look like. I hope the war in Ukraine will end soon. I truly wish for that," Kos said.
She added that Ukraine is currently working in three areas simultaneously:
- Fighting for survival
- Integration process and meeting EU requirements
- Implementing reforms.
As previously reported, the EU was considering a proposal to limit support for some Ukrainian agricultural products after the country's accession.
It was also reported that Ukraine could receive a clear plan for joining the EU in the form of special road maps.
