EU accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova should start, Brussels says

European Union leaders should allow formal talks on Ukraine and Moldova’s accession to the bloc to start once both countries have finalised the necessary reforms, the European Commission has said.

"In light of the results achieved by Ukraine and Moldova, and of the ongoing reform efforts, the Commission has recommended that the Council opens accession negotiations with both countries," the EU executive announced as it unveiled a long-awaited assessment of candidate countries' membership bids.

Upon the recommendation, EU leaders could back the opening of Ukraine and Moldova's accession talks during the next European Council summit in mid-December, a decision which requires the unanimous blessing of all 27 member states.

This is the first time the European Commission has green-lighted formal accession talks before a country has fully met all pre-conditions but Russia's ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine has injected a sense of urgency into the traditionally sluggish process of approving new EU members.

According to the Commission, technical work could start "immediately" once EU leaders endorse talks so that the negotiating framework - the roadmap for negotiations - can be swiftly adopted once both Ukraine and Moldova finalise the pending reforms. The Commission says it stands ready to report on progress in completing those reforms by March next year.

European Commission President Von der Leyen stressed that the process remains merit-based and that no "fixed date" for full membership can be given.

“Enlargement is a vital policy for the European Union. Completing our Union is the call of history, the natural horizon of our Union," she said.

"Past enlargements have shown the enormous benefits both for the accession countries and the EU. We all win," she added.

Speaking to Euronews shortly before the report's release, Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, said it was an “important assessment” and that the country was planning to announce its next steps in response to the recommendations later on Wednesday.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the country's president, described the decision as a "historic step that paves the way to a stronger EU with Ukraine as its member."

Moldova's President Maia Sandu also welcomed the Commission's recommendation and vowed to "work relentlessly" towards EU membership.

Both Ukraine and Moldova were granted official EU candidate status in June last year, just weeks after Russia rolled its tanks into the country, reviving EU enlargement from its long state of dormancy.

EU leaders recognise that the bloc’s geopolitical relevance hinges on the integration of its eastern flank, with Germany’s top diplomat Annalena Baerbock saying last week that the whole European continent would become more "vulnerable" if the EU does not enlarge.

The Commission has also recommended upgrading Georgia to the status of official EU candidate country, seventeen months after it was named a potential candidate.

Accession talks for Bosnia and Herzegovina - the only of the five Western Balkan candidate countries not yet in official talks - can be endorsed "once the necessary degree of compliance is achieved," von der Leyen said.