European Commission president says negotiation framework for Ukraine's accession to EU will be developed by mid-March

During her visit to Kyiv, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Commission will submit the negotiating framework for the official start of accession talks by mid-March 2024.

Source: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her visit to Kyiv, as reported by European Pravda

Note: This news has been corrected since publication. The original version of this news item incorrectly stated von der Leyen mentioned legislative screening, whereas it was supposed to be the negotiating framework. We apologise to our readers.

Details: Ursula von der Leyen noted that the technical processes preceding the start of the accession negotiations are underway.

"For our part, we, the Commission, will submit the negotiating framework [on EU accession] in mid-March," von der Leyen stressed. It should be noted that the European Commission's proposal must be approved by EU member states.

She pointed out that the EU had launched a screening process and that much work still needed to be done.

"I encourage you – and I know you are doing it – to keep delivering on the Commission's recommendations," Von der Leyen stated.

Background:

• Earlier, von der Leyen stated that the framework for negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU would not be ready for the European elections to be held in early June.
• In January, the European Commission commenced work on a draft negotiating framework for Ukraine, a document that defines the principles and procedures for negotiating EU accession.
• Earlier, there were hopes that the negotiating framework would be ready sooner and would be approved at an intergovernmental conference to be convened after the March summit of EU leaders. The convening of the intergovernmental conference is the actual start of accession negotiations.
• The March EU summit is expected to assess Ukraine's recent steps to start accession negotiations. They include approval of the law on lobbying.

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