How Ukraine’s crucial EU reforms progress and how to speed up the process

The most important and extensive cluster in Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations, Fundamentals, must be the first to open.

This cluster will officially be launched once the European Council unanimously provides a positive assessment of Ukraine’s progress on the benchmark criteria, followed by an Intergovernmental Conference.

The reforms in question include rule of law roadmaps (Chapters 23 and 24), public administration reform, and the*functioning of democratic institutions.

Read more about Ukraine’s successes and challenges in the key sections of the Fundamentals cluster in the analysis by Ivan Nahorniak and Maria Shalamberidze from EasyBusiness – The key chapter of EU negotiations: what reforms Ukraine needs to implement.

At the beginning of the year, the European Commission submitted a screening report on this cluster to the European Council. The conclusions of this report will further detail the recommendations outlined in the 2024 Enlargement Report.

Based on the Enlargement Report, the state of play in Ukraine's Fundamentals cluster can be summarised as follows:

Despite the war conditions, Ukraine continues to function within a democratic system, maintaining proportional restrictions on fundamental rights. However, concerns remain about pressure on civil society and restrictions on opposition MPs’ movements, though some of these issues were addressed earlier this year.

Among the key successes of Ukraine's public administration are the introduction of medium-term budget planning, the adoption of several strategic documents (such as the National Revenue Strategy and the Unified Investment Portfolio), the gradual implementation of the Law on Administrative Procedure, and the expansion of the institutional framework for public service delivery.

At the same time, the European Commission highlights a number of systemic problems, such as the insufficient financial sustainability of public administration reform, weak evidence-based policymaking, lack of systematic monitoring of policies, low legislative initiative from the government, and poor human resource management in the civil service, among others.

In terms of judicial reform in Ukraine, the European Commission pays particular attention to the Constitutional Court. To improve the transparency of its work, it is recommended to adopt a bill on constitutional procedure and a code of ethics for the judges of the court.

Another significant issue is the low funding of the judicial system, which covers only 57% of its needs and contributes to the shortage of judges and staff turnover in the judiciary.

Although Ukraine’s anti-corruption legislation requires improvements in several areas, such as statutes of limitations and whistleblower protection, it is generally considered acceptable.

Regarding the balance between security and democracy, the European Commission notes that, overall, Ukraine continues to properly safeguard human rights, even amid the war.

However, a number of issues remain. For example, the Ombudsman’s Office needs strengthening, particularly in terms of resources.

Freedom of speech remains under threat. The European Commission also calls for a review of the necessity of the national newscast.

Progress in the areas of justice, freedom, and security is relatively slow.

Although, according to the Enlargement Reports, Ukraine generally maintains the reform momentum, the country faces a significant volume of tasks.

It is not just about passing new laws but primarily about their effective implementation, with the strengthening of democratic institutions, state accountability mechanisms, and human rights protection.

For the successful implementation of fundamental reforms, Ukraine must urgently develop: a plan for implementing the European Commission’s recommendations outlined in the Enlargement Reports, and measures for the National Program for aligning Ukrainian legislation with EU law under the first cluster.

The sooner the planning process is completed, the sooner Ukraine will be able to transition to systematic implementation.