Enlargement Commissioner: Ukraine has a long way to go to meet conditions for EU membership

Ukraine has made a lot of efforts to meet the conditions for EU membership, but much work remains to be done to comply with all the criteria, and the war launched by Russia must come to an end, said EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Oliver Varhelyi, in an update in Stockholm. Ukraine has so far delivered two out of the seven priorities defined, he added.

A year ago, the European Council decided that there is European perspective offered to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, Oliver Varhelyi recalled, speaking after the meeting of European affairs ministers of EU member states held in Stockholm on Thursday. He added that the EU heads of state and government in the European Council also decided to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova,  and to award candidate status to Georgia once necessary conditions are met.

Ukraine has successfully fulfilled two out of the seven priorities specified, the Hungarian EU commissioner said. Kyiv has successfully addressed the judiciary reform and adopted key media legislation fully in line with the EU audio-visual media services directive.

Progress on the implementation of the other priorities are on track, he said, adding that Ukraine has achieved good progress on the constitutional court reform. Now Ukraine needs to focus on making the draft law fully in line with the recommendations proposed by the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's Strasbourg-based body composed of constitutional law experts, he said. He noted that Ukraine achieved some progress in the area of the remaining four priorities, namely anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, de-oligarchisation, and national minorities.

Regarding national minorities, Oliver Varhelyi highlighted that Ukraine needs to address the recommendations stated in the Venice Commission Opinion of 13 June on the law on national minorities (communities), in particular on the use of minority languages.

Postponing the implementation of article 7 of the education law until 1 September 2024 will allow Ukraine to reconsider the minority school system in light of previous Venice Commission recommendations to ensure equal opportunities for people belonging to national minorities, avoiding a disproportionate interference in their rights,

he said. The war hinders Ukraine in its reform efforts, the EU commissioner said and expressed hope that the end of the war would accelerate the accession process. "The war must end as soon as possible," he emphasized.

In the case of Moldova, he said that the country has completed three priorities out of nine. Moldova has  successfully addressed shortcomings identified in the area of the judiciary reform and electoral law reform, as well as in the field of enhancing the involvement of civil society in decision-making processes and strengthening the protection of human rights. Moldova has achieved good progress in three areas, namely justice reform, de-oligarchisation and public finance  management reforms, according to the EU commissioner. Most of the work now has to be concentrated on the fight against corruption, organised crime and money laundering, and finally, on the public administration reforms, he pointed out.

Regarding Georgia, Oliver Varhelyi  said that the EU identified  twelve priorities for the country, and three of these have been completed, namely ensuring gender equality and fighting violence against women, taking into account European Court of Human Rights judgments in court deliberations and appointing an ombudsman through a transparent process.

The Hungarian commissioner concluded by expressing hope that the report will positively assist and encourage the countries concerned to continue the process of implementing the priorities needed to meet the required conditions.

Cover photo:  EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Oliver Varhelyi speaks at a press conference after the meeting of  interior and justice ministers of the European Union and the United States in Stockholm on 22 June 2023 (Photo: MTI/EPA/TT News Agency/Pontus Lundahl)