Screening of Ukrainian legislation as a step towards EU membership

On January 17, the European Commission announced its support for the initiative to start screening Ukrainian legislation in preparation for the negotiation framework on Ukraine's membership in the European Union. This was announced by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.

Shmyhal emphasized that the government is actively working to harmonize Ukrainian legislation with the European one, and some progress has already been made in this direction. The self-screening process included an analysis of about 28,000 acts of EU law, and almost 2,800 acts were identified that require further implementation.

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen also confirmed this decision during her speech in the European Parliament. She also added that the European Union will launch its own reforms, pointing to the obvious growing interest in expanding the EU to 35 member states.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba emphasized that the situation with EU enlargement has become relevant, and now Ukraine has the opportunity to hold an equal dialogue with its European partners.

Kuleba explained that although the EU is experiencing some difficulties due to the increase in its membership, this should not prevent the integration of new members. European officials are ready to consider Ukraine as an equal partner in membership negotiations.

It should be noted that reforms in the EU should not slow down the process of integration of new countries. At the moment, the need to adapt Ukrainian legislation to European standards, namely the part that defines EU rules and standards, is at the forefront.