Ukraine's European Path. Accession, Reform and the Future of a Europe

Accession, Reform and the Future of a Europe

On 6 October, the European Commission is set to present its long-awaited Communication on the EU's preparedness for enlargement. The key takeaway is that accession will no longer be a single moment. Instead, it will be reached through a cascade of gradual integration decisions guided by roadmaps, and safeguards will continue to apply for ten years or more after accession. This phasing aims to make enlargement politically feasible, chiefly because member states fear reform backsliding in new members, and this arrangement gives them at least some safeguards.

In addition, to ease economic concerns, the draft proposes phased access to the Common Agricultural Policy, which makes this a particularly significant part of the document for us.

Ukraine is pursuing EU membership while resisting a full-scale war, a defining test of European integration. UEF holds, per its resolution "On a Victorious Ukraine in a Federal Europe", that enlargement and federal deepening must advance together. This webinar pairs EU-law expertise with first-hand Ukrainian institutional voices, so enlargement is debated with Ukraine, not just about it.

WEBINAR WITH

• Dr Victoria Vdovychenko, Joint Programme Leader, "Future for Ukraine" Project, Centre for Geopolitics, University of Cambridge
• Viktoriia Melnyk, Head of International Relations and European Integration Centre of Policy and Legal Reform, Lead Coordinator EuroHub

MODERATION

• Prof. Luca Lionello, Associate Professor of EU Law, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Chair UEF Political Commission 1