This is just the start of a long road. Ukraine, accompanied by Moldova, was designated as an official candidate for membership of the European Union (EU) by the European Council on Thursday 23 June. The granting of this status, demanded by kyiv since the start of the war with Russia in February, is highly symbolic.
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It makes it possible to begin the process of discussion with the 27 member countries and the Commission. But Ukraine’s entry into the EU is therefore not for now. She might even “take decades” had warned Emmanuel Macron in May, in remarks reported by France 24. Explanations.
1Candidate country status
The granting of candidate country status was granted to Ukraine in record time, but it comes with several conditions. The country should “carry out a number of important reforms”, said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on June 17. kyiv, which had signed a cooperation agreement with the EU in 2014, which entered into force in 2017, “has already adopted around 70% of European rules, norms and standards”had specified the head of the European executive, in particular in terms of “democracy” and “of public administration”.
But the country still needs to make efforts in terms of “d‘Rule of law, oligarchs, fight against corruption and [de défense des] fundamental rights”, added Ursula von der Leyen. Objectives which, if they are not achieved after several years, could push the 27 to withdraw the status of candidate from Ukraine. kyiv will not be able to start negotiations anyway until the war with Russia is over.
2Pre-membership
Before being able to launch official talks with the EU, Kyiv will have to negotiate a pre-accession strategy with the Commission. A step that “implies the establishment of a program of support and financial aid allowing the candidate to carry out the administrative, political and economic reforms necessary to integrate the European legislative corpus”explains Georgina Wright, of the Institut Montaigne, to the newspaper The world.
Ukraine, in particular, will have to respect the EU treaties, as well as the Copenhagen criteria, which ensure the political and economic stability of the country. Established in 1993, these require in particular that the candidate country respect the rule of law, stable institutions, but also to have a market economy and a “ability to assume the obligations arising from membership”, recall the site All of Europe.
3The official opening of negotiations
Once the objectives have been achieved, the EU will be able to officially open negotiations with Ukraine after validation of the 27. The very technical process, led by negotiators, will be divided into around thirty chapters covering all the subjects managed by the EU, such as taxation, minority rights, the environment or the free movement of goods and people. These chapters aim to verify that the law of the candidate country is in line with the “community acquis”in other words EU law.
This process can take years and can be reversible, since a review of the accession process in 2019. Montenegro, a candidate since 2010, has thus only managed to close three chapters out of the 33 expected. Serbia, a candidate since 2007, has only closed two chapters. North Macedonia, a candidate since 2005, has not closed any chapters.
4 Validation by Member States
Even if the negotiations end, Ukraine will probably have to wait for a reform of the functioning of the European institutions to be adopted by the 27, in particular on the rule of unanimity, which greatly slows down the European decision-making process. The idea is particularly pushed by France and the Netherlands.
Finally, once the negotiations have been completed, Ukraine’s entry will have to be validated one last time by all the member countries, some of which by a referendum. A voting method that can hold surprises.