Following the meeting of the College of Commissioners, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova.
During the meeting in Kyiv, Katarina Mathernova handed over to the Head of State the approved report of the European Commission on Ukraine's progress in the framework of the 2023 enlargement package. This is the first time the European Commission has assessed reforms in Ukraine as a candidate country within the EU enlargement package.
The Head of State thanked for the decision of the European Commission to recommend the EU countries to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.
"This is a great motivation for us, a big step forward in our European integration. We are very grateful to the European Commission, President Ursula von der Leyen and her team for this important milestone and positive recommendations," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
"I want to emphasize that we share common values with all Europeans and European countries. We are fighting for them. And this conclusion of the European Commission is one of the very important stages of our future victory. We are grateful to all the leaders who support us. We believe that we will continue this success in December," the President added.
Katarina Mathernova, for her part, noted the great work done for it to be possible to say that the European Commission recommends starting negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.
"As you said, you are carrying out reforms primarily for yourself, and this is a long process that is still ongoing, but this step has already been taken. There will be other steps, but at this moment I am personally very pleased to be able to hand you this report," the EU Ambassador said.
The President of Ukraine welcomed the readiness of the European Commission to start preparatory work for negotiations with Ukraine, in particular the official assessment of the state of implementation of the EU acquis into Ukrainian legislation ("screening"). It was emphasized that our country is also starting to prepare for the negotiation process with the EU, while strengthening and improving its institutional capacity for successful negotiations.
In order to ensure the speedy implementation of the remaining recommendations of the European Commission for a positive decision by EU leaders in December 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today signed a Decree "On some measures to prepare for the negotiation process on Ukraine's accession to the European Union".
The document is intended to ensure the implementation of Ukraine's strategic course toward full membership in the European Union, create conditions for effective political interaction and improve coordination of government agencies to launch negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU as soon as possible.
According to the decree, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is to initiate consultations with the European Commission to determine the organizational aspects of the negotiation process on Ukraine's accession to the EU, ensure the preparation and submission to the Verkhovna Rada of a draft law on approval of a new National Program for the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to the EU acquis, taking into account the results of the EU's official assessment (screening) of the state of implementation of the EU acquis into Ukrainian national legislation, etc.