On Friday 7 June, the European Commission announced that Ukraine and Moldova had met the final criteria required to officially begin accession negotiations with the EU.
Kyiv has met the four remaining criteria in three areas. In the area of anti-corruption, these included a law on the staffing of the national anti-corruption bureau NABU and the removal of provisions of a law regulating lobbying restricting the work of the national agency for the prevention of corruption, in the area of de-oligarchisation; and, finally, concerning the protection of national minorities, rules on education in the languages of national minorities.
Chisinau has also met the remaining three criteria in three areas. The country has taken steps to appoint members of the judiciary and a new attorney general on the basis of a transparent, merit-based process. It has also put in place adequate resources for the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office and taken additional measures as part of the de-oligarchisation process.
It is now up to the Member States to decide whether to formally open accession negotiations. At a debate between the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU on Friday, a majority of EU countries approved the reports presented to them by the Commission, calling on the Presidency of the EU Council to hold the two intergovernmental conferences before the end of the month, according to a source. The Presidency is still aiming to hold them on 25 June.
Hungary, for its part, has expressed doubts about the Commission’s assessment, according to one source. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)