{"id":69426,"date":"2025-02-05T10:59:05","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T09:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libmod.de\/policy-brief-save-democracy-in-georgia-copy\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T19:11:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T17:11:13","slug":"der-eu-eitritt-der-ukraine-mi-volldamp-voraus-aber-es-gibt-weiterhin-engpaesse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libmod.de\/en\/der-eu-eitritt-der-ukraine-mi-volldamp-voraus-aber-es-gibt-weiterhin-engpaesse\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine\u2019s EU Accession: Full Steam Ahead but Bottle\u00adnecks Remain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ukraine\u2019s membership bid taken on real momentum since the country applied for EU membership in the early days of the full-scale invasion. Though Ukraine\u2019s track record is generally positive, the devil is in the details. Difficult reforms, especially in the judiciary, require the attention and support of the EU and its member states.<\/h3>\n

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Ukraine\u2019s membership bid taken on real momentum since the country applied for EU membership in the early days of the full-scale invasion. Though Ukraine\u2019s track record is generally positive, the devil is in the details. Difficult reforms, especially in the judiciary, require the attention and support of the EU and its member states.<\/p>\n

On 28 February 2022, just days after Russian troops attacked Ukraine from the north, east, and south, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a bold appli\u00adcation for membership in the European Union (EU). This daring move came at a time when Russian forces were on the outskirts of Kyiv and the fate of the nation hung in the balance. Since then, Ukraine has made remarkable progress with its historic membership bid, despite the ongoing war of aggression and the numerous challenges it poses to the state, its bureau\u00adcracy, and society.<\/p>\n

In the two years following the appli\u00adcation, Ukraine swiftly advanced from candidate country status to the first Inter\u00adgov\u00adern\u00admental Conference in June 2024. The adoption of the Negoti\u00adating Framework in March of 2024 marked the formal start of the accession process. The analytical exami\u00adnation of Ukraine\u2019s compliance with EU laws has progressed smoothly since then.<\/p>\n

The screening process having been completed for the first of six negoti\u00adation clusters, the EU and Ukraine are expected to open cluster negoti\u00ada\u00adtions in the first half of 2025, under the current Polish Presi\u00addency of the European Council. This first cluster focuses on \u201cfunda\u00admentals\u201d such as gover\u00adnance, judicial reform, reform of law enforcement agencies, and anti-corruption measures. Progress in these areas is crucial for the imple\u00admen\u00adtation of other reforms and to accel\u00aderate Ukraine\u2019s EU membership bid.<\/p>\n

As of early 2025, there are still unanswered questions regarding the status of Ukraine\u2019s EU bid, the challenges ahead, and how Ukraine\u2019s European partners can better support the country.<\/p>\n

Moderate progress in alignment with EU acquis<\/h3>\n

While Ukraine has been lauded for its ambitious political goal of completing the accession process in record time, its substantive efforts in this area are under scrutiny. One the whole, Ukraine\u2019s track record since its appli\u00adcation is good, though challenges persist. The 2023<\/a> and 2024<\/a> European Commission enlargement reports highlighted signif\u00adicant progress but also empha\u00adsised areas needing improvement.<\/p>\n

The pace of change since late 2023 has been moderate<\/a>. The EC\u2019s 2024 report notes, \u201cUkraine has some level of prepa\u00adration with regard to the judiciary, the fight against corruption, and respect for funda\u00admental rights, and has made some progress.\u201d An analysis by the Ukrainian news outlet European Truth found<\/a> that Ukraine was the only one of the six EU accession candi\u00addates that had failed to make \u201csubstantial progress\u201d between the two reports.<\/p>\n

The two independent shadow reports from Ukrainian civil society also emphasise the continuing need for extensive reforms. Mykhailo Zhernakov, an expert on the judiciary and co-author of one of the shadow reports, charac\u00adterised the progress in judicial reforms in 2024 as minimal, noting that no progress was made on Supreme Court reform, even in the wake of a major corruption scandal<\/a> at the Court in 2023.<\/p>\n

The judiciary remains the most signif\u00adicant stumbling block for Ukraine\u2019s EU bid. Reform in this area must reach beyond ensuring judicial indepen\u00addence: a thorough overhaul of personnel selection processes is needed, to shift the emphasis to candidate quali\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtions and ensure integrity. The success of Ukraine\u2019s Anti-Corruption Courts demon\u00adstrates the value of involving inter\u00adna\u00adtional experts to uphold high ethical standards\u2014an approach that could be extended to other insti\u00adtu\u00adtions, such as the National Police and the Customs Service.<\/p>\n

Public sector reform is criti\u00adcally important<\/h3>\n

One often-overlooked obstacle to Ukraine\u2019s EU ambitions is the limited capacity of its public sector to adopt and implement EU laws. The strength\u00adening of public admin\u00adis\u00adtration, reform of the civil services, and improvement of evidence-based policy\u00admaking and monitoring is of critical importance.<\/p>\n

Lessons from other EU candidate countries suggest<\/a> that Ukraine\u2019s negoti\u00adation teams should be made up of a balanced group of political appointees and bureau\u00adcratic experts in order to maintain insti\u00adtu\u00adtional memory and ensure conti\u00adnuity during political transi\u00adtions. Currently, the negoti\u00adation teams are led exclu\u00adsively by polit\u00adi\u00adcally appointed deputy ministers, with no bureau\u00adcrats serving as deputy heads of the negoti\u00adating groups.<\/p>\n

Political will and public support remain strong<\/h3>\n

Despite the slow pace of reforms in recent months, the political momentum in Kyiv, Brussels, and most European capitals remains strong. Ukrainian leaders, including the President, Prime Minister, and Deputy Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, have consis\u00adtently reaffirmed their commitment to EU membership. This political resolve is bolstered by record levels of public support<\/a>. The 2024 EU enlargement report notes, \u201cThere is an overall consensus among Ukrainian society and author\u00adities, including the parlia\u00admentary opposition, that EU integration is a priority for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

This public enthu\u00adsiasm and political deter\u00admi\u00adnation under\u00adscore the trans\u00adfor\u00admative potential of EU membership, partic\u00adu\u00adlarly with respect to advancing difficult reforms such as judicial overhauls.<\/p>\n

Pace of reforms expected to increase in 2025<\/h3>\n

With the screening process for the funda\u00admentals cluster complete and negoti\u00ada\u00adtions set to open, reform efforts are expected to gain momentum in 2025. The European Commission will establish detailed roadmaps with bench\u00admarks, enabling better monitoring and imple\u00admen\u00adtation of necessary changes.<\/p>\n

For maximum impact, these roadmaps must include clear, specific bench\u00admarks for each area of reform. This will ensure effective imple\u00admen\u00adtation and allow independent experts and the Commission to assess progress accurately.<\/p>\n

Encour\u00adag\u00adingly, the EU\u2019s leadership remains highly supportive of Ukraine\u2019s bid. At the beginning of February, the Ukrainian government presented draft versions of three roadmaps for the funda\u00admentals cluster for the first time. These were developed in parallel with the screening process and are now being aligned and approved by the European Commission and the member states. The final roadmaps are of great impor\u00adtance, as they serve as the basis for estab\u00adlishing the opening bench\u00admarks at the start of the EU negotiations<\/p>\n

Conclu\u00adsions<\/h3>\n

Ukraine must work closely with the EU and its member states to seize this historic window of oppor\u00adtunity and achieve meaningful reform break\u00adthroughs, partic\u00adu\u00adlarly in the judiciary. 2025 is an important year and the EU and its member states must ensure that the political will to join as fast as possible trans\u00adlates into tangible and quali\u00adtative reform efforts. Technical and political support will be essential to ensure the quality, success, and sustain\u00adability of these reforms. At the same time the EU and its insti\u00adtu\u00adtions must make sure that reform commit\u00adments are met. That is why the speed and quality of Ukraine\u2019s EU bid depends on how specific the EU and Ukraine formulate the roadmaps and bench\u00admarks, against which the progress can be measured.<\/p>\n

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