The European Union and Ukraine have launched this Tuesday two more negotiation blocks for the future accession of Kiev to the community bloc, focused on the internal market and economic competitiveness. With this step, the candidate country now adds four of the six blocks contemplated in its European integration route, a process that continues to advance despite the Russian military invasion.
The agreement has been reached at the fourth Intergovernmental Accession Conference with Ukraine, held in Luxembourg, one day after the Twenty-Seven supported the opening of these two new blocks and set the conditions that Kiev must meet to provisionally close the associated negotiation chapters.
The activation of these blocks represents a new boost in the Ukrainian accession file, which had already started in July the discussions related to the external relations block and now aims to complete the opening of the remaining two blocks before the end of 2026.
In detail, these negotiation groups include 17 chapters linked to the functioning of the single market, the free movement of goods, services, workers, and capital, as well as industrial policy, taxation, digital transformation, education, employment, and research.
"Russia will not prevent us from incorporating Ukraine into the European Union," said the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, at a press conference in which she highlighted Kiev's progress despite the difficulties arising from more than four years of war.
"The opening of two new blocks is good news, but we will not stop here. The next step is to open the remaining two negotiation blocks as soon as possible," Kos added, emphasizing that the reforms will have "real benefits for Ukrainians," by facilitating business activity in the European market, attracting investments, and promoting job creation.
For his part, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Vsevolod Chentsov, has celebrated the opening of the new blocks as a key milestone towards his country's entry into the EU and has emphasized that the 17 newly opened chapters represent "the economic core of Ukraine's accession process."
"This demonstrates what can be achieved when Ukraine meets its commitments and the European Union is united and ready to move forward," he pointed out, before expressing his gratitude to the Irish Presidency of the EU Council for its efforts to achieve consensus among the member states.
Chentsov reiterated that Kiev maintains its commitment to implement the required reforms for accession "as quickly as possible" and argued that European integration should serve not only to rebuild the infrastructure and capacities destroyed during the war but also to transform the Ukrainian economic model.