Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka has said that all negotiation clusters regarding Ukraine's accession to the European Union are fully ready, and he expects them to open by mid-July.
"To open the clusters, we do not need to adopt any additional decisions; all five of them are ready for opening. We expect that the member states of the European Union will begin processing these five clusters immediately. Therefore, the general guideline to open all five clusters before the start of the holiday season, that is, by mid-July, remains in place," Kachka said at a joint press conference with OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann in Kyiv on Tuesday.
He emphasized that Ukraine sees that all member states support this, and it is only a matter of time how quickly it can be processed, as it requires a series of decisions by all 27 EU member states within the Committee of Permanent Representatives.
"Regarding the horizon of accession to the European Union – the key decision is the opening of all negotiation clusters... How quickly can we expect accession? The experience of other successful countries shows that 2-2.5 years are enough to complete this process, so we can calculate accordingly. At the same time, Ukraine, and this is a certain paradox, which is why we need the OECD assessments, is prepared for accession to the European Union much better than those countries that covered this path in 2-2.5 years," he added.
Kachka noted that the internal guideline is to fulfill all benchmarks in 2027 and be ready to conclude the treaty.
"It can be said for sure that everyone, both the European Union and the member states, the majority of the European Union member states, and Ukraine share the view that under any scenarios, Ukraine's accession by 2030 is possible, provided that we carry out our reform program as quickly as possible," the deputy prime minister added.
As reported, on June 15, the EU officially announced the opening of the first negotiation cluster with Ukraine and Moldova regarding EU accession.
