EU Commission to start screening process for Ukraine, Moldova after ‘surprise’ delay

The European Commission said on Wednesday (17 January) it was “now going to start” the EU accession screening process for Ukraine and Moldova, with member states already wondering why the process for the two Eastern candidates had not started in December, as expected. 

A European Commission spokesperson in Brussels confirmed the start of the accession screening for both countries will start “immediately”.

“The president said the screening is now going to start, so it means the screening is now going to start (…) we are now starting the work on the screening process,” European Commission lead spokesperson Eric Mamer told reporters in Brussels.

The EU’s usually lengthy screening process will assess which Ukrainian laws need to be aligned with the bloc’s current legislation, the so-called acquis.

“The first step is for multidisciplinary teams to be set up, covering the entire acquis (…) which are divided into 33 chapters,” the European Commission spokesperson for enlargement, Ana Pisonero, told reporters.

According to Ukrainian officials, a Ukrainian delegation would arrive in Brussels “no later than in a week”.

Speaking earlier in the European Parliament on Wednesday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the EU’s decision to open the door for Ukraine and praised Kyiv’s efforts to reform its democratic institutions.

“In preparation for the accession talks, we’re starting the screening process and putting together now the negotiation framework,” von der Leyen said.

She recalled that EU leaders in December had shown “the political will to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes”, and stressed that the EU “must back this decision with adequate funding”.

A day earlier on Tuesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with von der Leyen on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where they agreed to start the process. Euractiv understands this came after a ‘direct request’ from the Ukrainian side.

‘Surprise’ over delay

Before Wednesday’s announcement, the majority of EU member states had been “surprised” by the Commission’s delay, several EU diplomats told Euractiv.

“We had expected it to start very swiftly, especially in light of a very uncertain, volatile year ahead in 2024,” one of the EU diplomats said.

European Commission officials said in November that the technical preparatory work on a negotiating framework could start immediately after EU leaders make the political decision in December.

The officials also said the EU’s executive would be ready to send its negotiating teams to Kyiv and Chișinău ‘the next day’. However, until Wednesday’s communication, the screening had not started.

Euractiv understands that an initially planned meeting with Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, scheduled for the week after the December decision, had to be cancelled due to the lack of movement on the part of the EU’s executive.

At an EU ambassadors’ lunch with von der Leyen last week, 10 member states had expressed their concern over the delay, according to five EU diplomats.

“We encouraged the European Commission to immediately start the process, which has not started yet and should already have started,” a second of the EU diplomats said.

“The [European] Commission’s Directorate General (DG NEAR) was ready to start immediately, and Ukraine was also ready, but nothing happened. Why? You have to ask the Commissioner,” they said, in reference to Hungarian Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi.

Asked by Euractiv about the delay before the announcement, a European Commission spokesperson said “the [European] Commission services have been in constant contact with the authorities, immediately after the December EUCO”.

“The [European] Commission has started to prepare the draft [Negotiating Framework] to be submitted to the Council in the coming weeks,” the spokesperson said.

“As already mentioned, the screening process will be taken forward immediately. This is the explanatory phase of the screening which can start at this time,” they added.

What next?

While the screening process normally takes between one and two years, EU officials believe it could be done between six and nine months in the case of Ukraine.

According to EU diplomats, the hope of many was to complete the screening before the Hungarian EU presidency in the second half of this year to avoid the issue ‘becoming too politicised’ during Budapest’s stint at the EU helm.

EU officials had hoped that the first Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) – at least for Ukraine – could have been already held shortly after March 2024.

According to EU officials and diplomats, the screening process can be carried out in parallel with the first IGC and does not need to be complete to call such a meeting.

An EU-Ukraine Association Council, initially expected to take place on 29 January, was postponed, a source close to the Ukrainian government told Euractiv.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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