Ukraine’s parliament finalized almost all EU recommendations, MP says

She spoke about this on Espreso TV.

"If we take all 7 criteria that were set by the European Commission more than a year ago, the Ukrainian parliament has already finalized everything in legislation. And even on the 7th point on the rights of national minorities, our fellow lawmakers have submitted a draft law for the first reading. The European Integration Committee has already reviewed this draft law, which was an addition to the draft law already voted in December last year, and gave a positive assessment of its compliance with EU criteria. I am confident that at the next meeting, the Verkhovna Rada will vote on this draft law in the first and second readings," the MP said.

Maria Mezentseva noted that in October, PACE will consider a separate text of the document, a resolution entitled "The Rights of National Minorities in Ukraine". The MP is confident that the consultations in PACE and the Venice Commission will be held at a decent and expert level.

"The Ministries of Information Policy, Culture, Education, Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, are all focused on this draft law. I would also like to point out to Ukrainians that the parliament does not hide from declaring, so we expect a second reading with the relevant amendments. In addition, the President has recently signed an important law on a special commission to select judges to the Constitutional Court. This means that we have actually implemented not just two points of the EU recommendations, but almost all of them. I ask us all to wait for the October document, namely the interim report from the European Commission on these 7 points. We are looking forward to the official opening of negotiations by the end of this year," Mezentseva said.

Ukraine's accession to the EU

Ukraine applied for EU membership on 28 February 2022 during the Russian-Ukrainian war. 

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:

• enact and implement legislation on a selection procedure for judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine;

• 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;

• 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;

• 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;

• implement the Anti-Oligarch law to limit the excessive influence of oligarchs in economic, political, and public life;

• adopt a media law that aligns Ukraine's legislation with the EU audio-visual media services directive;

• 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 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.

Ruslan Stefanchuk said that the Verkhovna Rada plans to adopt all the laws necessary for negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU by September 1, 2023.