Europe: EU advances accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova

Luxembourg. The European Union is pushing ahead with accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Discussions on two further thematic blocks began at accession conferences in Luxembourg on Tuesday. Representatives of the 27 EU states gave the green light for this step the day before. With regard to Ukraine, the Irish EU Council Presidency spoke of another milestone for the country started by Russia.

Specifically, the new thematic blocks are about the internal market as well as competitiveness and inclusive growth. The internal market includes, for example, the free movement of goods, services and capital as well as the free movement of workers; on competitiveness topics such as economic and tax policy, education and research.

The decision to expand negotiations is seen as an important sign for both countries that their reform efforts are worthwhile. In particular, Ukraine, which is being attacked by Russia, is costing a lot of energy.

The negotiation process for admission to the EU is intended to ensure that a candidate country meets all the requirements for membership. To make it clearer, it was divided into 35 so-called chapters. 33 of them are assigned to six subject areas, which are also called clusters. The talks are not expected to be concluded before the next decade, especially in Ukraine. According to experts, the country is still far from meeting EU standards in the area of ​​combating corruption, among other things.

In addition to Ukraine and Moldova, the Western Balkan countries Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Kosovo are particularly aspiring to join the EU. Montenegro is furthest along in the EU admission process. The country, which has only around 620,000 inhabitants, was recently confirmed as being able to complete accession negotiations by the end of 2026 if it maintains the pace of reform.