what do the negotiations that have just opened consist of?

European Union accession negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova kick off on Tuesday at an intergovernmental summit in Luxembourg. A symbolic step for these two Eastern European countries, which have already begun pre-accession reforms.

For Moldova and Ukraine, a certain number of criteria must be met in order to qualify for the opening of negotiations and one day join the EU. After an examination of the economic and political situation of each of these countries, which took into account in particular the efforts of kyiv to fight against corruption and the influence of oligarchs,The European Union therefore opens the first accession negotiations on Tuesday June 25, 2024 in Luxembourg. This historic first round of funding launches a very long process

In Ukraine, nearly 3,000 texts to comply with European law

The heads of state and the European Commission wanted to act quickly, before Hungary, the most hostile to Ukraine’s accession, succeeds Belgium as president of the Union on July 1. We therefore had to act quickly, when the Commission identified last November the reforms to be launched before opening negotiations. Ukrainian parliamentarians have stepped up the pace to overhaul the judicial system and toughen the rules on corruption, particularly with the new appointment of senior officials. It was also necessary to review the rules on lobbying, in particular to curb the powerful role of the oligarchs. Another expected measure: safeguarding the rights of national minorities, this was one of the many points of friction with Hungary. On this subject, the Ukrainian government has made a lot of progress with the government of Hungary and with associations of the Hungarian minority present in Ukraine.

But beyond these preliminary reforms, Ukraine will now get into trouble, because all of Ukrainian legislation will have to be modeled on that of the Union. Each chapter will be the subject of discussions for years. Everything must be swept aside: questions of the rule of law, the market economy… Certain issues such as energy moved forward suddenly with the war and the connection to the European network. But everything will be negotiated very carefully. To measure the extent of the work to come, the Ukrainian government launched its own evaluation: the result was that 3,000 texts would need to be brought into compliance with European law.

The road is therefore long and among the issues where the negotiations promise to be complicated, we find transport, freedom of movement of goods, freedom of enterprise, and of course agriculture and respect for veterinary and phytosanitary standards. Finally, we will have to talk about financing: 136 billion euros from the European budget could be allocated to Ukraine according to experts. The Ukrainian government responds that integrating Ukraine will also allow the Union to be stronger in terms of defense, raw materials and digital technology.

Moldova in the fight against corruption

Before being able to join the current 27 members of the EU, Moldova will have to pay particular attention to the justice sector and the fight against corruption. The country has experienced endemic corruption for decades, and the Moldovan government is well aware of the need to fight corruption, which not only hinders the country’s development, but could also hinder its accession process to the European Union. Several reforms have already been initiated, particularly in the justice sector. An independent evaluation commission was created to subject judges and prosecutors to careful scrutiny. The idea is to carry out a sorting process to keep only those civil servants considered to be honest. This ambitious initiative has been widely criticized, particularly by those first concerned. Since the start of this evaluation procedure, dozens of judges and prosecutors have resigned.

The government also wants to put in place laws to ensure transparency in the financing of media or political parties, and thus fight against the influence of oligarchs on politics. But in reality these reforms are moving very slowly, too slowly, say some who believe that the government has not gone far enough.

Another subject that could taint the negotiations: the separatist region of Transnistria, this pro-Russian, Russian-speaking region, where a large part of the population does not wish to join the European Union. Even if the government wants to be reassuring on this subject, it will certainly be a sensitive subject of discussion. Moscow still stations soldiers there, officially for a peacekeeping mission. The solution envisaged at the moment seems to be a two-stage accession, first without Transnistria which would then gradually reintegrate Moldovan territory.

To strengthen the legitimacy of the European Union accession process, President Maia Sandu decided to organize a referendum on October 20, the same day as the presidential election. Moldovans will have to speak out for or against membership of the European Union. According to the latest polls, a majority of people are expected to vote “yes”, but some pro-Russian parties are actively trying to change the situation with propaganda and disinformation.