Relations between Ukraine and the European Union were established in December 1991, when the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, as the representative of the country holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Communities, officially recognized Ukraine’s independence on behalf of the EU.
Ukraine’s policy towards building relations with the European Union is implemented on the basis of the Law of Ukraine “On the Principles of Domestic and Foreign Policy” of 1 July 2010. According to Article 11 of the Law, one of the fundamental principles of Ukraine’s foreign policy is “ensuring Ukraine’s integration into the European political, economic, and legal space with the aim of acquiring EU membership.”
At the same time, Ukraine’s intention to develop relations with the EU on the principles of integration was proclaimed much earlier. Thus, in the Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine “On the Main Directions of Ukraine’s Foreign Policy” of 2 July 1993, Ukraine for the first time declared its European integration aspirations. The document stipulated that “the long-term objective of Ukraine’s foreign policy is membership in the European Communities, provided this does not harm its national interests. In order to maintain stable relations with the European Communities, Ukraine will conclude a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, the implementation of which will become the first stage towards association, and subsequently, full membership in this organization.”
Relevant provisions supporting the course towards EU integration are also contained in the Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the recommendations of the parliamentary hearings on cooperation between Ukraine and the EU of 28 November 2002; the Statement of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of 22 February 2007 on preparations for negotiations on a new agreement between Ukraine and the EU; as well as the Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the recommendations of the parliamentary hearings on the state and prospects of economic relations between Ukraine and the EU and the Customs Union of 19 May 2011.
The refusal of the country’s top leadership in November 2013 to sign the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU triggered mass peaceful protests in Ukraine in defense of the people’s European integration aspirations, which became known as the “EuroMaidan.”
Following the victory of the Revolution of Dignity, on 13 March 2014 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Resolution “On Confirmation of Ukraine’s Course towards Integration into the European Union and Priority Measures in This Direction,” which confirmed the irreversibility of Ukraine’s course towards European integration, the objective of which is to acquire EU membership. It was also noted that Ukraine, as a European state sharing a common history and values with the countries of the European Union, has the right to apply for membership in the EU under Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union. This Resolution also recommended that the Acting President of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine take a number of priority steps in the sphere of European integration, first of all in the context of concluding the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.
With the signing and ratification in 2014 of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, bilateral relations began to develop in a qualitatively new format of political association and economic integration. During the signing of the Association Agreement on 27 June 2014 by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, and during its ratification on 16 September 2014 by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, declarations were made that Ukraine considers the conclusion of the Association Agreement as another step on the path to the ultimate goal of European integration – Ukraine’s full membership in the European Union.
Certain sections of the Association Agreement began to be provisionally applied from 1 November 2014, and on 1 January 2016, the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) between Ukraine and the EU came into effect. The process of ratification of the Agreement by all EU Member States and institutions was completed on 11 July 2017. The Agreement entered into force in full on 1 September 2017.
On 7 February 2019, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law on Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine regarding the strategic course of the state for acquiring full membership of Ukraine in the European Union and in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The purpose of the Law was to enshrine in the Constitution of Ukraine the civilizational choice, European identity of the Ukrainian people, and the irreversibility of the state’s strategic course towards full membership in the European Union and NATO.
On 28 February 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Ukraine’s application for membership in the European Union. A Joint Statement was also signed together with the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
On 9 April 2022, during her visit to Kyiv, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen handed over to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the questionnaire for assessing Ukraine’s readiness to begin EU accession negotiations. While handing over the questionnaire, she noted that the process usually takes years, but in Ukraine’s case it would be a matter of weeks.
On 18 April 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted Ukraine’s answers to the first part of the questionnaire to the Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Matti Maasikas.
On 9 May 2022, Ukraine submitted to the European Union the completed second part of the questionnaire required to obtain candidate status for EU membership. During a video meeting with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, President Zelenskyy presented the second completed part of the questionnaire. In this document, Ukraine assessed the compliance of its legislation with the EU acquis communautaire. The answers to the second part comprised almost 4,000 pages, providing a detailed picture of the state of Ukrainian legislation after eight years of implementing the Association Agreement with the EU.
On 17 June 2022, the European Commission published its Opinion on Ukraine’s application for EU membership submitted on 28 February 2022. The document was based on Ukraine’s answers to the Commission’s questionnaire regarding Ukraine’s compliance with the Copenhagen membership criteria – political (democratic institutions) and economic (market economy). In its conclusion, the Commission recognized Ukraine’s European perspective and recommended granting it candidate status, provided that Ukraine implements seven recommendations in the areas of judicial reform, anti-corruption, de-oligarchization, combating money laundering, media, and protection of the rights of national minorities.
On 23 June 2022, the Heads of State and Government of the 27 EU Member States, based on the positive recommendations of the European Parliament and the European Commission and by decision of the European Council, unanimously decided to grant Ukraine candidate status.
The European Commission carried out an assessment of Ukraine’s implementation of the seven recommendations as part of its interim assessment (22 June 2023) and in the Commission’s Enlargement Package Report (8 November 2023).
For the first time, the Enlargement Package Report assessed reforms in Ukraine as a candidate country. It highlighted significant reform efforts undertaken by Ukraine despite Russia’s war, as well as important progress in implementing the seven recommendations, including those related to the stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and the respect and protection of minorities. On this basis, the Commission recommended that the Council open accession negotiations with Ukraine. In addition, the Commission recommended that the Council adopt the negotiating framework once Ukraine had completed four legislative steps (strengthening NABU, expanding NACP’s powers to verify assets, regulating lobbying, and implementing the remaining Venice Commission recommendations on the protection of national minority rights). It was envisaged that the Commission would report to the Council on progress by March 2024. At the same time, the Commission expressed its readiness to begin preparatory work, in particular the analytical examination of the acquis (screening) and the preparation of the EU’s negotiating framework for Ukraine’s membership talks.
Based on the European Commission’s Enlargement Package Report, on 14 December 2023 the European Council adopted the historic decision to open accession negotiations with Ukraine.
On 25 January 2024, the inaugural Ukraine–EU meeting on the launch of the analytical examination of the acquis (screening) took place. The agenda included not only screening issues, but also discussions on the preparation and approval of the EU’s negotiating framework for Ukraine’s EU accession talks.
On 21–22 February 2024, the first explanatory meeting within the screening was held – a session on Chapter 23 “Judiciary and Fundamental Rights.”
Following the explanatory sessions on all chapters within six clusters (scheduled for May 2024) and the approval of the EU’s negotiating framework, bilateral screening sessions will begin.
The screening process consists of two parts – explanatory sessions (during which the Ukrainian side asks questions) and bilateral sessions (during which Ukraine informs the European Commission about the state of approximation of legislation in each negotiating chapter).
After the completion of bilateral sessions, the Commission prepares a screening report for each cluster, which includes: an assessment of the level of approximation of Ukrainian legislation in each negotiating chapter; information on Ukraine’s preparatory plans; and a preliminary assessment of the most “problematic” issues that may arise during negotiations (conditions for opening the cluster). The screening report serves as the basis for the Council of the EU to decide on the opening of Cluster 1 (opened first and closed last) and the other five clusters in the EU accession negotiation process with Ukraine.
On 25 June 2024, Ukraine officially launched accession negotiations with the EU. On this date, the first Ukraine–EU Intergovernmental Conference took place. The Ukrainian delegation included representatives of the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Office of the President.
This made it possible to launch bilateral meetings between Ukraine and the European Commission on 8–9 July 2024 as part of the official screening of Ukraine’s legislation for compliance with EU law. The screening of all negotiating chapters, grouped into six negotiating clusters, was completed on 30 September 2025.
Since February 2025, the necessary steps to open Cluster 1 with Ukraine had been blocked by Hungary. However, the results of the elections in Hungary in April 2026 and the subsequent change of government created the conditions for Hungary to unblock the negotiations on Ukraine’s EU accession:
On 12 June 2026, COREPER unanimously approved the EU negotiating position on Cluster 1, “Fundamentals”.
On 15 June 2026, the Second Intergovernmental Conference was held in Luxembourg, at which Negotiating Cluster 1 was opened.
On 10 July 2026, COREPER unanimously approved the EU negotiating position on Cluster 6, “External Relations”.
On 14 July 2026, the Third Intergovernmental Conference was held, at which Negotiating Cluster 6 was opened.
Work is currently underway in the Council of the EU on opening the remaining negotiating clusters.
The first legal basis for relations between Ukraine and the EU, which established cooperation in a broad range of political, trade and economic, and humanitarian matters, was the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) of 14 June 1994 (which entered into force on 1 March 1998).
The conclusion of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Ukraine and the EU (PCA) established cooperation in a broad range of political, trade and economic, and humanitarian matters. The conclusion of the PCA made it possible to establish a regular bilateral dialogue between Ukraine and the EU at both political and sectoral levels, introduce an orderly trade regime between the two parties based on the principles of GATT/WTO, and identify priorities for adapting Ukrainian legislation to the standards and norms of the European Community (acquis communautaire) in priority sectors of the Ukrainian economy.
In view of the expiry of the PCA’s ten-year term in March 2008, Ukraine and the EU launched negotiations on 5 March 2007 on the conclusion of a new enhanced agreement between Ukraine and the EU. Following the completion of Ukraine’s accession to the World Trade Organization on 18 February 2008, negotiations were launched on the establishment of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) between Ukraine and the EU. This opened the way for the liberalisation of the movement of goods, capital and services, as well as broad harmonisation of non-tariff instruments of economic regulation.
On 9 September 2008, at the Paris Summit, Ukraine and the EU reached a political agreement to conclude the future agreement in the form of an Association Agreement, based on the principles of political association and economic integration.
During the 15th EU–Ukraine Summit in Kyiv on 19 December 2011, the parties announced the completion of negotiations on the future Association Agreement. On 30 March 2012, the text of the future Agreement was initialled by the heads of the negotiating teams of Ukraine and the EU.
The political part of the Association Agreement was signed on 21 March 2014, while the economic part was signed on 27 June 2014. On behalf of Ukraine, the political part of the Association Agreement was signed by the Prime Minister of Ukraine, A.P. Yatsenyuk, and the economic part by the President of Ukraine, P.O. Poroshenko. On behalf of the EU, the Agreement was signed by the heads of the EU institutions and the leaders of all Member States of the European Union.
On 16 September 2014, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the European Parliament simultaneously ratified the Association Agreement.
The completion by Ukraine and the EU of all necessary internal procedures made it possible to begin the provisional application of a substantial part of the Association Agreement as of 1 November 2014, pending its full entry into force following completion of the ratification process by all EU Member States.
As of 1 September 2017, the Agreement began to apply in full.