Cabinet to submit European integration bills six months before implementation deadline – official

The Cabinet of Ministers is introducing a new regulation for submitting European integration initiatives, according to which bills must be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada no later than six months before the planned execution date of the measure. Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka emphasized during the Hour of Questions to the Government on Friday that this change is intended to provide the parliament with sufficient time to work on the legislation provided for in the National Adaptation Program. He noted that more than 100 people’s deputies have already been involved in government negotiating groups to strengthen interaction during the document development stage.

Kachka identified two key events in 2026 that will determine the pace of Ukraine’s integration. The first is the June meeting of the European Council, where a formal decision on opening clusters is expected, and the second is the European Commission’s report in November, which will provide a general assessment of all candidate countries based on results achieved through the end of October. Kachka stated that if the November assessments are breakthrough, the ambition to conclude an accession treaty in 2027 will be realistic. He underscored that the most critical task remains the implementation of the action plan regarding the Rule of Law and fulfilling EU requirements under negotiation chapters 23 and 24, covering justice, human rights, and law enforcement agencies.

If a high pace of reforms is maintained, Ukraine may be able to close most negotiation chapters within the next 12-18 months. Currently, technical work is being conducted across all six clusters, which encompass 145 European Union requirements and 1,875 specific measures.