Hungary gives green light to opening of Clusters 2 and 3 for Ukraine

Tetyana Vysotska, Viktoriia Shabranska - 7 October, 13:29

Stock photo: Getty Images

Hungary has agreed to allow Ukraine to move forward in its EU accession negotiations, clearing the way for the opening of Cluster 2, Internal Market, and Cluster 3, Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth.

Source: European Pravda, citing a EU source familiar with the negotiations

Details: Budapest has lifted the block that had until now prevented Ukraine from moving to the next stage in the procedure for opening negotiation Clusters 2 and 3.

"The COELA group approved the screening results for Clusters 2 and 3 for Ukraine, and today at Coreper, EU member states' ambassadors agreed to send letters to the governments of Ukraine and Moldova inviting them to present their negotiating positions," the European Pravda source said.

The source said the next procedural steps could be completed very quickly.

A draft EU negotiating position on both clusters is expected to be prepared at a COELA meeting in the coming days.

EU member states are expected to be able to agree on the negotiating position for opening the clusters as early as Monday 12 October after the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) adopts legislative amendments concerning education in national minority languages.

Once the EU negotiating position has been approved, a Ukraine-EU intergovernmental conference could be held the following day, 13 October, at which Clusters 2 and 3 could be formally opened.

Hungary had previously blocked approval of the screening results for these clusters for several months, preventing Ukraine from moving on to the next procedural stages required for their opening.

Background:

A bill on education in national minority languages was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on 1 October. Its adoption was expected to help lift Hungary's veto, which had blocked progress on the two clusters in the accession negotiations.
On 6 October, the European Commission adopted a package of proposals for changes to EU policies ahead of future enlargements (pre-enlargement policy reviews), intended to enable the EU to admit new members, including Ukraine.
European Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos outlined five groups of measures proposed by the European Commission for future EU enlargement: greater use of qualified-majority voting and limits on vetoes in certain areas; closer integration of candidate countries into parts of the EU before membership; safeguards to prevent new members from backsliding on the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights; adjustments to EU policies to accommodate enlargement, including targeted measures for sensitive Ukrainian agricultural products; and roadmaps for the four most advanced candidate countries.

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