"In an unprecedented move, the European Commission will move Ukraine's membership process forward at a technical level despite Hungary blocking official talks on accession. Under the new plan, technical progress means Kyiv will push ahead with reforms needed to meet the EU's eligibility criteria and EU staffers will assess Ukraine's progress in aligning with EU laws and standards in areas like judicial independence. This circumvents Budapest's veto on opening formal negotiations."
"'At some point, we will have to find unanimity,' Kos acknowledged when pressed on the feasibility of the plan. 'But for the time being, for the technical part, we can go on,' she said on Friday. 'Ukraine doesn't need Hungary to do the reforms. It is a transformational process for the benefit of the whole country,' she added. The European Commission will use the same method for Ukraine's neighbor Moldova, whose membership bid has also been caught up in the EU internal deadlock."
The European Commission will move Ukraine's EU membership process forward at a technical level despite Hungary blocking formal accession talks. Technical progress entails Kyiv continuing reforms to meet EU eligibility criteria while EU staff assess alignment with laws and standards, including judicial independence. The approach circumvents Budapest's veto on opening formal negotiations but any final membership decisions will still require unanimous approval by all EU members. The same technical method will be applied to Moldova. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos says ministers instructed the Commission to advance the bid and expresses encouragement, while she stops short of committing to specific accession timelines.
Read at www.dw.com
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