European Commission anticipates new procedure for accession negotiations for Ukraine

The decision to initiate accession negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova is expected to prompt the European Union to propose a revised framework for their proceedings.

Source: European Pravda, citing a high-ranking official of the European Commission, who spoke anonymously

A representative of the European Commission emphasised that the EU has a precedent of altering the negotiation framework for states seeking accession to the European Union. Currently, discussions are underway regarding the specific negotiation framework for Ukraine.

Quote: "The situation is evolving. The negotiation frameworks for Albania and North Macedonia differ from those for Serbia and Montenegro. Additionally, they vary from the frameworks that applied to Turkey. The negotiation framework for Ukraine and Moldova is yet to be determined and will be subject to approval by the EU Council. However, we can anticipate that they will be distinct and more streamlined," an official said.

It is worth noting that there is still time for developing the negotiation framework. It is approved sometime after the political decision to start negotiations, which EU leaders will consider at the summit on 14-15 December. If a consensus on negotiations is not reached, the official preparation for creating the "framework" will be postponed.

A source said that one of the current ideas is to simplify the procedure for opening and closing individual negotiation chapters. The current process requires consensus, allowing Hungary or another state to block the process approximately 100 times during negotiations. The EU has previously experienced the harmful effects of such an approach, contributing to slow negotiations with Western Balkan states.

Another challenge is that after such a decision, Ukraine's path to membership will become easier than it was for Balkan states, which is unacceptable to many. "It is intriguing how changing the Ukrainian framework will affect the negotiations for the Western Balkans, which have already begun," explained the European Commission representative.

Background: 

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that if the EU does not approve the decision to start accession negotiations with Ukraine due to the Hungarian blockade, it would imply that Russian President Vladimir Putin directly imposed a veto on this decision.

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