The European Commission confirmed on Wednesday that Ukraine has met the conditions to open all remaining EU accession chapters, while setting no membership date in a roadmap calling for further rule-of-law reforms .
The Commission's 2026 annual Ukraine Report, published on 4 November as part of the EU Enlargement Package, found that Ukraine's preparedness improved in nine chapters over the past year . That is more than twice as many as last year, and no chapter showed deterioration. Good or very good progress was noted in ten chapters, including energy, the digital sector, financial services, taxation, education, science, agriculture and customs. For the first time, the foreign policy, security and defense chapter received the highest progress rating, and the Commission specifically noted that Ukraine's anti-corruption institutions operate independently and effectively. Assessments in the areas of the judiciary and justice also improved.
The report covers the period from September 2025 to September 2026. Ukraine's next goal is to receive an Interim Benchmark Assessment Report in early 2027. A joint Ukraine-EU working group has been established at the initiative of President Volodymyr Zelensky and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Sergii Koretskyi said in a Telegram post that the government has taken note of all the Commission's recommendations and will work to implement them. He added that Ukraine's partners had praised the progress made in key reforms over the past year. However, the Commission's accompanying roadmap for Ukraine sets no target date for membership and calls for urgent rule-of-law reforms before Ukraine can provisionally close its negotiating chapters in 2027 .
Ukraine is being urged to accelerate reforms to meet its "ambitious objective" of closing negotiations by the end of 2028, meaning it is unlikely to join before 2030 . The Commission also plans to submit a proposal to the Council of the EU to amend the draft common position for Cluster 5 to accommodate Ukrainian agriculture . Lawmakers in Kyiv passed 133 laws in the past year, slower than the year before, and none significantly strengthened anti-corruption rules, according to the Commission .
