European Commissioner Kos on 3-day visit to Ukraine
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Cos is in Ukraine on a three-day visit. The screening process of compliance of Ukrainian legislation with European legislation, which precedes the opening of negotiation clusters on Ukraine's accession to the European Union, is expected to be completed on Tuesday.
The European Commission announced this on Monday.
"From today until Wednesday, Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Cos is in Ukraine to confirm the EU's unwavering commitment to the country's European future and to mark the completion of the EU accession screening process, underlining Ukraine's progress on its path to EU membership," the EC said in a press release.
In particular, on Monday 29 September, Kos will visit schools for Hungarian and Slovak minority students in Transcarpathia and meet representatives of the Council of National Minorities of Ukraine to discuss the latest steps taken by the national authorities to strengthen minority rights in Ukraine, including the Action Plan on National Minorities adopted last May. The Commissioner will then visit the recently opened railway, built using the European standard gauge, which improves cross-border connections, trade and investment, paving the way for Ukraine's further integration into the EU transport network. On Tuesday 30 September, Kos will meet with regional representatives to discuss decentralisation reforms. She will also take part in the Ukrainian Resilience Week and visit the Nezlamnist rehabilitation centre and an EU-funded housing project for internally displaced persons and war veterans. The Commissioner will also meet with civil society, women leaders and veteran business leaders to discuss Ukraine's reform progress and economic prospects.
On Wednesday, 1 October, on Defender's Day, Commissioner Kos will meet with representatives of the Ukrainian authorities and government and parliament to discuss the reform agenda related to EU accession. In addition, Commissioner Kos will meet with representatives of Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions.
At the daily press briefing, European Commission spokesman Guillaume Mercier stated that the screening process for Ukraine took place in "record time." "We have to complete the screening process this week, the meeting has already taken place today, but it will continue until tomorrow, so the screening process will be completed tomorrow. This again demonstrates Ukraine's determination and ours to accelerate the preparatory work for EU accession as soon as possible," he said, announcing the deadline for the completion of the screening process.
The spokesperson also confirmed the EC's position supporting the opening of Cluster 1.
Commenting at the request of journalists on the proposal of European Council President António Costa to open the negotiation clusters not by unanimous vote, which is currently not considered possible due to the blocking by Hungary, but by qualified majority, Mercier reiterated that the EC "has stated very clearly that our position is that we should open Cluster 1 for Ukraine and Moldova." "They have done the work, they have met the criteria, that is, the roadmap, the workflow and the action plan on minorities for Ukraine. So the opening of Cluster 1 should take place without any further delay," the spokesperson said.
According to Mercier, the EC believes "that there is no reason, no objective reason to oppose the opening of Cluster 1." "As for the ongoing discussions (on the possibility of qualified majority voting), that is for the member states to decide. We hope that we can open cluster 1 as soon as possible," he stressed.
Mercier also explained that the possibility of granting the Council the power to decide by qualified majority could be considered "for certain intermediate steps in the enlargement process, and the closing of the negotiating chapter should continue to be decided unanimously by all member states, as the final decision on the actual accession decision should also be taken unanimously."
