European Union

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Written by Jakub Przetacznik.

Ukraine was granted EU candidate status in June 2022. Accession negotiations were opened in June 2024. While bilateral screening meetings of three thematic clusters have been completed, negotiations proper have not yet started, pending unanimous agreement of EU Member States. The European Parliament is calling for the timely organisation of subsequent intergovernmental conferences.

EU–Ukraine relations

In 2014, the EU and Ukraine signed an association agreement and established a deep and comprehensive free trade area, thereby strengthening bilateral political and trade relations. Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU and its Member States have made available almost €147 billion in financial, economic, humanitarian and military support for Ukraine, and have welcomed 4.3 million refugees. The EU has underlined ‘its unwavering commitment to help Ukraine exercise its inherent right of self-defence against the Russian aggression and to build a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future’. The EU’s objective is ‘to support Ukraine to reach a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law’. In addition, the EU has stressed its readiness to play its full part in supporting the forthcoming steps in the process. Currently, the main priority is a full and unconditional ceasefire. To put pressure on Russia, which is escalating its attacks instead of negotiating in earnest, the EU on 20 May 2025 approved the 17th package of sanctions, and is preparing an 18th package.

EU accession process

Ukraine, which formally requested to join the EU after Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, was granted candidate country status in June 2022. In December 2023, EU Member States agreed to open accession negotiations, as Ukraine met previously set preconditions. The first intergovernmental conference – or ‘accession conference’, marking the formal opening of accession negotiations – took place in Luxembourg on 25 June 2024. The EU and Ukraine have completed screening meetings for three thematic negotiating clusters:

• Cluster 1 (Fundamentals of the accession process)
• Cluster 2 (Internal market)
• Cluster 6 (External relations).

Bilateral screening allows candidate countries to familiarise themselves with the body of EU legislation (acquis), and present the state of their preparations to adopt and implement it. According to the European Commission, Ukraine is ready to open negotiations on Cluster 1 – a precondition to opening any other negotiating cluster. However, due to the lack of the required unanimity in the Council, accession negotiations proper have not yet started on any cluster. Screening meetings on the remaining clusters are continuing, with the aim of completing them, and opening negotiations, for all clusters by the end of 2025. Ukraine has underlined its commitment to implementing all opening benchmarks once requested by the EU.

European Parliament position

The European Parliament has adopted several resolutions supporting Ukraine and condemning Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression against the country. Its resolution of 12 March 2025 on continuing the unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after three years of Russia’s war of aggression, underlines that Ukraine’s EU integration is a strategic priority. In its resolution of 2 April 2025 on the implementation of the common foreign and security policy – annual report 2024, Parliament calls for the acceleration of the screening process and the timely organisation of the subsequent intergovernmental conferences.

Read this ‘at a glance note’ on ‘Ukraine’s future in the EU‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

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