In brief

• EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos and Ukraine have agreed on concrete reform steps to meet interim democracy and rule-of-law benchmarks.
• The benchmarks must be met in the first half of 2027 before Ukraine can move on to closing negotiating chapters.
• Kos has said Ukraine could close seven negotiating chapters by the end of 2027 if reforms proceed.

Working group agrees on reform deliverables

EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said on X that she had co-chaired a high-level working group meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi on 15 November, and that the parties had made progress on a concrete list of reform results. (Україна прагне виконати проміжні критерії з верховенства права й демократії для вступу до ЄС у 2027 році, – єврокомісарка Кос – Espreso) (Вступление Украины в ЕС: Кос, Корецкий и Стефанчук согласовали план для выполнения промежуточных критериев в первой половине 2027 года – NV) The group was set up in October to help Ukraine meet the interim criteria on democracy and the rule of law.

Benchmarks tied to chapters 23 and 24

The benchmarks concern negotiating chapters 23 and 24, which cover judiciary and fundamental rights, and justice, freedom and security. (Кос узгодила з українським урядом реформи для виконання бенчмарків у першій половині 2027 – Європейська правда) Kos described the agreed path as the next important stage of Ukraine's EU route, with the aim of fulfilling the criteria in the first half of 2027. (EU, Ukraine have roadmap to meet interim rule-of-law benchmarks – Kos – Ukrinform) (Єврокомісарка обговорила з Корецьким і Стефанчуком реформи щодо правосуддя – Українська правда) Without meeting them, Ukraine cannot move on to closing negotiating chapters.

Parliament speaker joins talks

Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk also attended the meeting, which Kos called a strong signal of unity. Kos wrote that working together could allow Ukraine to take advantage of a historic opportunity to bring its accession closer.

Wider timeline

The European Commission may present the Council of the EU with an interim report on Ukraine's rule-of-law criteria in the first half of 2027, provided Kyiv speeds up reforms. Kos has also said Ukraine could close seven negotiating chapters by the end of 2027 if it carries out the necessary reforms. Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Vsevolod Chentsov, has argued that Kyiv could close more chapters in 2027 than the Commission had planned.

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