European Commission adopts enlargement package with conditional 2027 targets for Ukraine

Commission sets conditional 2027 benchmark

The European Commission's annual enlargement package, adopted on 4 November 2026, says Ukraine has opened four of the six negotiating clusters and 24 of the 33 chapters, with no chapter closed. Negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova opened in June 2024, and both completed the screening process.

The roadmap published with the package sets a clear expectation that Ukraine will be able to meet the interim rule-of-law benchmarks in the first half of 2027. After that, in the Commission's view, Ukraine may close at least 7 of the 33 chapters. The Commission may adjust the roadmaps depending on progress and will update them regularly, it said.

Marta Kos, the enlargement commissioner, declined to predict when the negotiations would finish. She said the pace would depend on Ukraine's reforms and on how quickly member states agree decisions on each chapter.

"I would very much like to name a date, but I cannot. That would be irresponsible," Kos said in an interview with Radio Svoboda, Voice of America and Ukrinform.

She said the process is not only the technical work for which she is responsible. It also involves processes inside member states. She said progress cannot move forward without a green light from member states at every stage. The Commission called Ukraine's goal of completing negotiations by the end of 2028 ambitious and said it was important that Ukraine continue to accelerate reforms to reach it.

POLITICO reported that the roadmap set limited targets for 2027 and avoided any commitment to a membership date.

Kyiv targets first closures in 2027

Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi said Ukraine wants to create the conditions for the preliminary closure of 7 chapters in the first half of 2027, during Lithuania's presidency of the Council of the EU. He named judicial reform, the fight against corruption and public administration reform as priorities. He said Kyiv expects to open two new negotiation clusters by the end of 2026.

Deputy head of the presidential office Ihor Zhovkva said Ukraine hopes to open the remaining two clusters by the end of 2026 and to begin closing chapters in the first half of 2027. He said most chapters would close by the end of that year. He said the reports should not be read as a competition with Moldova and that the two countries would continue hand in hand.

The government has set up a joint working group with the European Commission to speed up work on the Fundamentals cluster, Koretskyi said.

Reforms gate chapter closures

In its statement, the Commission said Ukraine has fulfilled the conditions to open all remaining clusters. The statement said Ukraine's specialised anti-corruption institutions generally continue to operate independently and effectively, and that the focus should now be on meeting the interim benchmarks under the rule of law, implementing roadmaps on the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions and public administration reform, and the action plan on national minorities.

POLITICO cited a document it obtained in which Brussels calls on Kyiv to "urgently and significantly step up the pace of the rule of law reforms." Meeting key requirements in that area in the first half of 2027 is necessary before negotiations in individual policy areas can be provisionally concluded, the roadmap says.

Kos said the path requires the involvement of the Verkhovna Rada and civil society. Ukraine is preparing for the Interim Benchmark Assessment Report, Zhovkva said. Without meeting the interim rule-of-law benchmarks, Ukraine cannot begin closing negotiating chapters.