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European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has officially confirmed that the European Union will formally open accession negotiations with Ukraine on June 15.
She made the announcement while speaking with journalists in Kyiv, UATV English reports.
According to Kos, an intergovernmental conference with Ukraine is scheduled for June 15 to officially launch negotiations under the first cluster of EU legislation, known as Fundamentals. This cluster covers issues related to the judiciary, institutions, public procurement systems, financial control, and statistics.
“The rule of law (a key issue of the first cluster of EU law – ed.) is one of the most important steps. Everything starts with it and everything ends with it. By affirming it, the candidate country receives a certificate that the move toward the EU is serious,” Kos explained.
The Commissioner also noted that once a negotiating cluster has been opened and the candidate country has implemented the required reforms, the European Commission prepares an Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR). Based on this report, EU member states decide whether.
Negotiations under that cluster can be considered completed.
As reported earlier, the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union announced on June 4 that the EU Council had officially launched the process of opening Cluster 1, Fundamentals, in accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.
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