According to DW, the plan contains ten main priorities that Ukraine must implement over the next year in order to move towards European integration.
This became possible thanks to the “frontloading” mechanism, which allows work on the technical aspects of preparing for membership even despite Hungary’s veto on the opening or closing of negotiation clusters, the media writes.
The article notes that this procedure allows technical work to be carried out without a unanimous decision of all EU member countries – the support of the country presiding over the EU Council and the European Commission is sufficient.
At the same time, European representatives note that this bypass concerns only the technical stage: for the formal opening and closing of negotiation clusters, the unanimity of all member countries remains necessary, DW writes. Therefore, it is important that Ukraine now carries out technical work on clusters, so that after the blockade of Hungary is lifted, negotiations can move very quickly.
This involves the implementation of a number of main EU requirements for Ukraine, including changes to the Criminal Procedure Code, strengthening the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP), as well as expanding their jurisdiction to all positions with a high risk of corruption.
According to DW, Ukraine should also speed up judicial reform, including expanding the participation of international experts in the High Qualifications Commission of Judges, as well as quickly appoint judges of the Constitutional Court and members of the High Council of Justice who have passed international verification.
DW quotes board member of the Anti-Corruption Center Elena Galushko, who believes that the EU requirements are realistic, provided there is political will. Among the main challenges, she highlights the reform of the Office of the Prosecutor General and the State Bureau of Investigation, which require cleansing and restarting.
According to DW, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka assured that Ukraine is ready to move forward and open negotiation clusters immediately after the creation of the appropriate political conditions.
