The draft Negotiating Frameworks for Ukraine and Moldova, sent by the European Commission to the Council, sets out the guidelines for accession negotiations. The Council will now begin discussing the draft with further approval of the Negotiating Frameworks.

As explained in a European Commission press release issued in Brussels on Tuesday, the negotiating frameworks establish the guidelines and principles for the accession negotiations with each candidate country. "The draft frameworks prepared by the European Commission are divided into three parts: 1) principles governing the accession negotiations, 2) substance of the negotiations, and 3) negotiations procedure. The objective of the negotiations is that Ukraine and Moldova adopt the EU acquis in its entirety and ensure its full implementation and enforcement," the European Commission said in the press release.

In addition, the draft negotiating frameworks build on the experience of past enlargements and the on‑going accession negotiations. "They integrate the revised enlargement methodology and take into account the evolving EU acquis," the Commission said in the press release.

The European Commission also outlined further actions. It is now for the Council to begin their internal deliberations on these texts. Once the Council has adopted the negotiating frameworks, the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union will present the agreed-upon EU Common Position in the first inter-governmental conference with each country, marking the formal start of the accession negotiations. The negotiating frameworks will be made public at this stage.