EU to Open Foreign Policy Accession Negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova

EU countries have agreed to open negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on the bloc’s shared rules on foreign policy as part of the next so-called cluster of negotiations, three diplomats told Euractiv.

The decision – approved today at a technical level by diplomats – is expected to be approved by EU ambassadors next week before being formally approved EU ministers in Brussels on 14 July.

EU diplomats described the foreign policy chapter as the last easy win on the administration road to access in comments to Euractiv, with the remaining clusters covering more politically sensitive areas, including the EU’s joint agricultural policy and the internal market.

Negotiations over a path for both countries to join the EU have been stalled because Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blocked progress. After April’s national election, new PM Péter Magyar has signalled a more pragmatic approach to Ukraine’s prospective EU membership.

Although the bloc agreed to open the first cluster last month, covering fundamental rule of law, Ukraine has been met with some resistance to moving further ahead on the process. At the European Council in June, leaders removed language calling for the remaining clusters to be opened “as soon as possible” – a change prompted by opposition from Budapest.

Four negotiating clusters – groupings of EU legislation organised by policy area – remain unopened.

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For its part, Moldova’s accession process has so far remained closely linked to Ukraine’s, despite Chişinău facing considerably less political resistance to its membership bid than its neighbour.

See the original of this report by Nicoletta Ionta here.