Ukraine committed to EU accession but should do more on rule of law, Commission draft says

By Lili Bayer

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Ukraine is showing "remarkable commitment" to joining the EU, but must reverse recent negative trends in the fight against corruption and accelerate rule of law reforms, the European Commission said in a draft text seen by Reuters on Monday.

Ukraine applied to join the EU days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. It has been pushing to make progress on its bid, despite the challenges of Russia’s war and EU member Hungary blocking Kyiv from formally moving to the next phase of negotiations.

The text, part of an EU enlargement report expected to be adopted on Tuesday, said that "despite the very difficult circumstances the country finds itself in on account of Russia’s war of aggression, Ukraine continued to demonstrate remarkable commitment to the EU accession path over the past year".

While praising Ukraine for launching reform processes, the European Commission also said that Kyiv needs to make more progress on judicial independence, fighting organised crime and respecting civil society.

European officials have previously raised concerns about steps taken in July to establish greater control by Ukraine’s prosecutor general, a political appointee, over the country’s anti-corruption bureau and a specialised prosecution unit.

Rare wartime protests led Ukraine's leadership to quickly reverse course, but the episode caught the attention of Ukraine’s supporters in Brussels and EU capitals.

"Recent negative trends, including a growing pressure on the specialised anti-corruption agencies and civil society, must be decisively reversed," the Commission said in the draft text.

EU accession requires unanimous backing from all members of the bloc.

While nearly all EU governments publicly support Ukraine’s EU aspirations, there are no plans for the country to join the bloc in the near term and many diplomats acknowledge Ukrainian accession would face significant hurdles.

The Ukrainian government has signalled to the EU it aims to complete accession negotiations by the end of 2028. The Commission said this would require Kyiv stepping up.

"The Commission is committed to support this ambitious objective but considers that to meet it an acceleration of the pace of reforms is required, notably with regards to the fundamentals, in particular rule of law," it said.

In the draft report, the Commission also suggested democratic standards should be better protected in future enlargement rounds.

“To ensure that new Member States continue to safeguard and maintain their track record on the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights, the Commission considers that future Accession Treaties should contain stronger safeguards against backsliding on commitments made during the accession negotiations,” it said.

(Reporting by Lili BayerEditing by Andrew Gray, Inti Landauro, Alessandro Parodi, Peter Graff)