EU Commission chief commends Kyiv's commitment, credits Ukraine with fulfilling conditions
Ukraine has fulfilled "almost all the requirements" set by the European Union for the start of negotiations regarding its accession, said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, writes Politico.
At an event organized by the publication, von der Leyen said that Ukraine has fulfilled " all the necessary requirements for almost all the seven steps we asked them to do when they became a candidate country."
The European Commission chief also repeated that she is "deeply impressed" by the way Ukraine is carrying out "deep structural reforms" while at the same time waging an "existential war".
It is expected that the European Union will announce the start of negotiations on the accession of Ukraine after the summit of EU leaders in mid-December in Brussels.
REFERENCE. In the decision of the European Commission regarding the start of negotiations on joining the EU, four requirements are listed, according to which Ukraine should receive a "green light" in March 2024.
For this, the Ukrainian parliament has to:
- increase the number of staff of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau;
– exclude from the law on prevention of corruption the provisions limiting the authority of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention regarding the inspection of "already inspected" property acquired by declarants before joining the civil service;
– adopt law(s) to implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission on national minorities, state language, media and education;
– regulate lobbying "according to European standards".
Ukraine acquired the status of a candidate country for joining the European Union in 2022. At the same time, the European Commission provided Ukraine with an action plan that must be implemented in order to start negotiations on joining the bloc.
On November 8, the European Commission recommended starting accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.
Politico wrote that the European Union is preparing to officially announce the start of accession negotiations in December 2023.
