A “B minus”: Has Ukraine been able to fulfill all the demands of the West on its way to the EU?

Ukraine is expected to begin negotiations to join the European Union in December. To achieve this, the European Commission recommended that Kyiv implement seven key recommendations, including:

• reform of the Constitutional Court;
• judicial reform;
• fight against corruption;
• reform of law enforcement;
• deoligarchization;
• media legislation;
• legislation on the rights of national minorities.

David Arakhamia, chairman of the Servant of the People parliamentary group, believes that the Verkhovna Rada has agreed to 99.9% of the amount needed by the European Union to start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU. In general, according to Verkhovna Rada chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk, Ukraine has fulfilled almost all the recommendations offered by European institutions last year. And the work continues.

There is progress

In June 2023, Brussels celebrated the success that Kiev managed to achieve despite the large-scale war of the Russian Federation. According to the European Commission, Ukraine has fulfilled its obligations two out of seven requirements We will start negotiations for membership in the European Union. They talked about the successes of judicial reform as well as media legislation.

Some progress has been made on the remaining five recommendations. For example, the Constitutional Court reform was rated “good” by the EC, and “some” success was noted in legislation on national minority rights, anti-corruption, money laundering and law enforcement reform. as de-oligarchy.

An EU diplomatic source told Reuters: “There is progress. The report will be moderately positive. This is not about embellishing the truth, but about recognizing progress; for example, there are outstanding anti-corruption cases that can be named.”

There’s more success these days, he says Focus Martina Boguslavets, founder of the Institute of Legislative Initiatives. The parliament and government took seriously the implementation of the European Commission’s seven recommendations. We can also talk about serious progress in terms of quantitative and qualitative indicators.

This particularly concerns legislation regarding national minorities. In September, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the relevant law, partially taking into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission. The document defines who national minorities are, allows the use of the language of national minorities in advertising, media and various events, and also includes the development of a methodology for the use of national minority languages ​​in certain regions.

The issue of national minorities remains a stumbling block in diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has hinted that his country is ready to seize the wheels of Kiev on the EU path if the Ukrainian government does not improve legislation. Budapest’s main irritation is with the Education Act, which guarantees education in the state language in schools, while Hungarians want their ethnic minority to be educated only in their native language.

Ukraine has also shown some success in reforming the Constitutional Court: in July the parliament voted on a European integration law to clarify the provisions on the competitive selection of candidates for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court, and also strengthened the role of international organizations. in the selection of candidates. True, so far not a single competition has taken place under the new law.

After the parliament adopted, though not for the first time, the law on the reintroduction of open electronic filing and the investigation of a number of high-profile corruption cases, we can talk about some progress in the fight against corruption.

Needs improvement

“I think that in the five-point system, we can be given a four along with a minus. This is more than three, but not a full four,” he says Focus political analyst Igor Reiterovich. According to the expert, the assessment of the head of the Verkhovna Rada that Ukraine has implemented “almost all” recommendations hides many unfinished issues.

“Partners will say that we did a good job, that we deserved a series of negotiations, but the aftertaste of not being able to complete everything will remain. Because war is not an indulgence that comes from fulfilling demands. We can say that the key points are: we fulfilled and then we will work,” Reiterovich continues.

According to Boguslavets, there are still points that need to be strengthened. For example, compliance of anti-money laundering legislation with FATF standards [Группе разработки финансовых мер борьбы с отмыванием денег]. The seriousness of this situation is evidenced by the fact that this is one of the most important conditions for continuing cooperation with the IMF. And also the reform of the law enforcement bloc.

“According to the State Anti-Corruption Program, the implementation of a merit test was to begin, as well as the development of a bill on appointments to senior positions in the police based on the results of a competition. The Anti-Corruption Center IZI submitted to the National Police and the Ministry of Internal Affairs 20 candidates for the competitive selection of police leadership “As well as a statement signed by more than 100 public organizations and analytical centers, the priority steps of the reforms are being introduced – the organization of competitions in regional departments and the Merit test. But we know that work on the bill is planned to start only in December,” adds Boguslavets.

The most difficult thing, according to the expert, is to evaluate the progress regarding the anti-oligarchic law, since the implementation of the law, including the creation of a registry of oligarchs, will occur only after the end of the great war.

The expert reminds that Kiev faces the task of fulfilling not only the seven important recommendations of the European Commission, but also the White House’s list of reforms and the requirements of the IMF. They are all interconnected in the context of both future EU membership and support from Ukraine’s Western partners. In particular, allocating funds to meet the state’s priority needs in 2024 and providing further assistance to the reconstruction of the country in the post-war period.

The fairness of the authorities’ statements regarding the implementation of almost all of the recommendations will be revealed during the negotiation process. The start of negotiations for Ukraine today is real. And practical implementation or, on the contrary, ignoring the requirements will affect Kiev’s financing terms from the EU.

In a conversation before Focus First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Alexander Kornienko noted that negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union may last more than a year.

“The negotiation process is not a one-day story, it will take several years. We are currently hearing from the European Commission about deadlines for 2030. I think we will be ready sooner, but it will still take several years,” he said. Focus Kornienko.

The politician also noted that the EU is, first and foremost, an economic union, so issues related to Ukraine’s interests and the concessions that need to be made remain controversial. And government officials have a lot of work ahead of them to explain to Ukrainians what the EU is and what it means to be a citizen of the European Union.

Moreover, Focus Which countries could intervene in Ukraine on its way to the EU was analyzed in detail.