Ukraine hopes six clusters could be opened in EU accession talks before year-end – PM

He stated this at a press conference on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“At last week’s negotiations with the European Commission in Kyiv, we talked about the possibility of opening all six negotiation clusters in 2025. We have the ambition to open three clusters during the Polish presidency (of the EU) in the first half of the year. In the second half of the year, during the Danish presidency, we have the ambition to open another three clusters, a total of six negotiation clusters this year,” Shmyhal said.

According to the Prime Minister, this is Ukraine’s homework that must be completed in order for the peace agreement to contain “already a political decision on Ukraine’s accession to the EU.”

In this context, the Prime Minister recalled steps toward integration into the single European market. In particular, the Open Skies Agreement and “energy visa-free deal”.

“It should be noted that last year alone, 2024, our exports to the EU increased by $1.4 billion, and Ukraine’s exports overall grew faster than imports last year,” the Prime Minister said.

As reported, earlier, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos noted that Negotiation Cluster 1 “Fundamentals of the EU accession process” with Ukraine could most likely open in April or May 2025. This first fundamental cluster is opened first and closed last in the process of accession talks.

The negotiations on the accession of new Member States to the European Union are divided into 35 chapters, 33 of which are combined into six thematic clusters, which are opened in turn.

For each chapter, the European Commission first conducts an official screening of the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU Aquis.