In brief
Ukraine has completed some measures planned for November to prepare for the next stage of EU accession talks, Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said. Further progress depends on meeting interim benchmarks and securing a positive European Commission assessment.
Koretskyi announced the progress after a meeting of the joint Ukraine–European Commission working group in Brussels. The cited report did not specify which measures had been completed.
He said the IBAR Task Force had been working for a month. Ukraine needs to accelerate work on interim benchmarks under negotiating cluster No. 1, “Fundamentals,” over the coming months, he said, aiming to prepare for a positive Commission assessment in the first half of 2027.
EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos said the sides had made progress in identifying concrete reform outcomes needed to meet EU requirements on democracy and the rule of law.
Meeting the interim benchmarks is a prerequisite for advancing accession talks. After checking compliance, the Commission is to prepare a special IBAR report; a positive assessment would allow Ukraine to move towards provisionally closing negotiating chapters.
