The European Commission's new plan for Ukraine's EU membership talks sets no joining date and asks Kyiv to finish only a handful of policy areas in 2027, Politico reported. Moldova, which applied alongside Ukraine but is not at war, is expected to move more than three times faster. Brussels wants Kyiv to speed up court and anti-corruption reforms that its parliament must pass while fighting Russia.

Russia keeps striking Ukrainian cities and power plants, and the country is rebuilding its laws to European standards at the same time. EU rules do not bar a country at war from joining. Yet a member at war raises hard questions about borders, security, and the mutual defense duties EU states owe each other. That makes every month of slower reform a widening gap between Ukraine and the neighbors on the same path.

Seven chapters for Ukraine, 25 for Moldova

Countries joining the EU must align their laws with EU rules in dozens of policy areas, called chapters, and close each one. The Commission's roadmap lists seven that Ukraine could provisionally close in 2027. Education and culture come first, in the first half of the year. Intellectual property, employment, industrial policy, science and research, external relations, and foreign and security policy follow in the second half.

Moldova could close nine chapters in the first half of 2027 and 16 more by year's end, Yevropeiska Pravda, Ukrainska Pravda's EU-affairs site, reported. Both countries applied in 2022 and opened talks on the same day in June 2024. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has argued they should keep moving in step. “Moldova and Ukraine are certainly stronger when we move forward on this track together,” he said on 26 October.

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No date for Kyiv, a timetable only for Montenegro

Presenting the package on 4 November, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos confirmed it sets no date for Ukraine's accession, Interfax-Ukraine reported. The roadmaps run only to the end of 2027. Ukraine could close up to seven chapters if it meets interim rule-of-law benchmarks, and she called its chances high. The plan describes itself as a “living document” that can add chapters if reforms move faster.

Montenegro, a small Balkan country, is the exception. It has closed 21 chapters and could close the rest by the end of this year, the Commission said. Brussels envisages June 2027 as the target for signing its accession treaty.

Courts first, while the war strains parliament

No chapter can close before Ukraine meets key rule-of-law requirements in the first half of 2027. The Commission admits these reforms take extensive consultations, time, and money. It also notes that the war places extraordinary demands on Ukraine's government and parliament. Kyiv and Brussels set up a joint task force in October to speed those benchmarks up.

Ukraine's ambassador to the EU, Taras Kachka, sees no lag behind Moldova, only different assessments of how ready each chapter is. He put the burden on lawmakers. “The success of our negotiations now depends 90% on the speed and pro-European commitment of parliament,” he told Radio Svoboda. The Commission's annual report had already flagged that Ukraine's parliament slowed its lawmaking over the past year, though it also found that reforms have recently picked up pace.

The two countries still share one obstacle. Hungary has held up the last two blocks of talks for both, and they are now expected to open in December, the Kyiv Independent reported. Kachka told Euronews that Budapest has raised no new substantive objections and only wants more time to study the documents. Moldovan President Maia Sandu has argued that holding Moldova back does nothing to help Ukraine.