The European Commission is preparing a more cautious roadmap for Ukraine’s EU accession talks, with limited 2027 milestones and no commitment to an accession date, according to a document obtained by Politico and reported by Digi24.

Brussels urges Kyiv to “urgently and significantly accelerate” rule-of-law reforms; key requirements in the first half of 2027 are needed before individual policy chapters can be provisionally closed. The paper, part of Wednesday’s enlargement package, lists only seven areas where Ukraine might provisionally finish negotiations next year.

A decoupling from Moldova is increasingly on the table: while Ukraine is targeted for progress in seven domains by 2027, Moldova could complete talks in more than 20. Both won candidate status in June 2022 and opened accession negotiations in June 2024; since then their paces have diverged.

Joining the EU means aligning with 35 “chapters.” The roadmap aims at education and culture in H1 2027, then intellectual property, employment and social policy, industry, research, external relations, and foreign and security policy. A dedicated task force will help, but the war still burdens law-making and implementation.

Unlike Montenegro (treaty target June 2027), Ukraine, Albania and Moldova get no firm deadlines. The roadmap calls itself a “living document” that can speed up if reforms do. Membership for a country still at war also raises security and mutual-assistance questions that a peace deal alone would not settle.

The Commission also wants the stalled negotiation clusters — green agenda/connectivity and resources/agriculture/cohesion — opened by end-2026, arguing Ukraine has met the conditions to start them.

Source: Ukraine’s EU accession uncertain; decoupling Chișinău from Kyiv (Digi24 / Politico)