Ukraine plans to adopt all laws for EU accession negotiations by September 1
Ukraine’s parliament plans to adopt all the laws necessary for negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU by September 1, 2023
The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, shared the information at a conference of Ukrainian ambassadors, Ukrinform reports.
"On behalf of the parliament, I want to inform you that we have set ourselves the goal of adopting all the necessary legislation by September 1 this year, which will allow us to continue further negotiations with European institutions, so that in October, in the written assessment of the European Commission, we will receive a mark of "completed" against all the tasks set before us," Stefanchuk said.
He emphasized that the President of Ukraine, the Parliament, the government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are actively working to ensure that the decision to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU is made at the end of 2023.
According to him, MPs have to fulfill a number of other tasks, including adopting a law on the restoration of electronic declaration, supporting amendments to the law "On National Minorities of Ukraine" and others.
What is known about Ukraine's accession to the EU
On February 28, 2022, Ukraine applied to the European Union for immediate accession under a special procedure.
On June 23, 2022, Ukraine was granted candidate status for EU membership.
In May, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine should be ready to join the EU in two years - the country expects to receive a political decision to start accession negotiations this year.
According to Espreso's sources, the European Parliament is considering the possibility of starting negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU this fall.
Currently, Ukraine has to fulfill seven requirements of the European Commission, set in June 2022, necessary to maintain the candidate status:
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enact and implement legislation on a selection procedure for judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine;
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finalize the integrity vetting of the candidates for the High Council of Justice members by the Ethics Council and the selection of candidate to establish the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine;
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further strengthen the fight against corruption, complete the appointment of a new head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and complete the selection process and appointment for a new Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine;
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ensure that anti-money laundering legislation is in compliance with the standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF); adopt an overarching strategic plan for the reform of the entire law enforcement sector as part of Ukraine's security environment;
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implement the Anti-Oligarch law to limit the excessive influence of oligarchs in economic, political, and public life;
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adopt a media law that aligns Ukraine's legislation with the EU audio-visual media services directive;
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finalize the reform of the legal framework for national minorities.
Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk also noted that Ukraine is determined to join the EU before NATO and plans to start membership negotiations by the end of this year.
On June 19, foreign media reported that the European Commission had assessed Ukraine as having fulfilled two of the seven conditions for starting membership negotiations with the EU, while Brussels noted the progress made despite Russia's full-scale war.
During a speech in parliament on Constitution Day, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed five points of the Ukrainian Doctrine for discussion.
The Verkhovna Rada adopted a law clarifying the provisions on the competitive selection of candidates for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
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