Ukraine Has Improved Its Performance In Preparing For EU Accession Across Nine Chapters

5.11.2026, 15:35

Despite Russia's full-scale war.

Ukraine has improved its progress toward accession to the European Union across nine negotiation chapters. Despite Russia’s full-scale war, the country continues to implement reforms and has met the conditions for opening all remaining negotiation clusters. This is stated in the European Commission’s annual report on EU enlargement, and the improvement in performance across the nine chapters has been confirmed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, according to FREEDOM.

The European Commission presented its annual enlargement package on November 4. An official statement notes that Ukraine continues to make progress toward EU membership despite Russian aggression. Over the past year, Kyiv has opened four negotiation clusters, and the European Commission has confirmed that the conditions for opening the remaining ones have been met.

At the same time, Brussels emphasizes the need for further reforms. Ukraine must focus primarily on meeting the interim criteria in the area of the rule of law, implementing roadmaps on justice, the functioning of democratic institutions, and public administration reform, as well as an action plan to protect the rights of national minorities.

The next stage of the negotiation process should be the provisional closure of individual negotiation chapters. European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos believes that Ukraine has the potential to close seven such chapters as early as 2027, provided it meets the necessary requirements.

Negotiations on accession to the European Union cover 35 chapters, grouped into six thematic clusters. They call for bringing Ukrainian legislation into line with European standards in various areas—from the economy and trade to justice and security.

At the same time, Ukraine can deepen its cooperation with the EU even before obtaining full membership. The European Commission has proposed the gradual integration of candidate countries in four strategic areas: energy, transportation, the digital sector, and defense.

Particular attention is being paid to defense cooperation. Brussels recognizes that Ukraine not only needs support from its European partners but is already making a significant contribution to ensuring Europe’s security.

“This section on security is a new development. In our enlargement report, we wanted to show how some candidate countries, especially Ukraine, are already contributing to European security and how we are already cooperating effectively in the defense sector,” said Marta Kos.

According to the European Commissioner, in the first half of 2027, the European Commission plans to hold a special dialogue with the Ukrainian government to identify additional opportunities for gradual integration.

“In the first half of next year, we will hold a special dialogue on gradual integration with the Ukrainian government. And then we’ll see in which areas we could cooperate even more closely,” Kos added.

Specific areas for further cooperation, including in the defense sector, will be determined following consultations with the Ukrainian government.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky also commented on the findings of the European Commission’s annual report. According to him, the country has significantly improved its readiness for EU membership.

“The state of preparedness for accession has improved across nine chapters. That is more than double the number from last year. There has been no deterioration in any chapter, nor has there been any rollback of reforms,” the head of government noted.

He clarified that good or very good progress was noted in ten chapters, specifically in energy, the digital sector, financial services, taxation, education, science, agriculture, and customs.

In addition, for the first time, the area of foreign policy, security, and defense received the highest rating for progress. The European Commission also positively assessed the independent and effective work of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies and noted improvements in the areas of the judiciary and justice.

According to Koretsky, Ukraine’s next goal is to receive an interim assessment of its compliance with the rule of law criteria (IBAR) in early 2027. To this end, a joint Ukraine-EU working group has been established at the initiative of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“We are setting ambitious but achievable goals. There are areas where we need to work faster. We are acting on the European Commission’s recommendations,” the prime minister emphasized.

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