Ukraine Eyes 7 EU Chapter Closures in Early 2027

Ukraine aims to provisionally close seven chapters of its EU accession negotiations in the first half of 2027, Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said on Tuesday, Nov. 3, outlining Kyiv’s next steps toward membership.Speaking at the Euronews Enlargement Summit, Koretskyi also said Ukraine expected to open its two remaining negotiating clusters before the end of 2026, according to a government statement.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“We plan to receive a positive assessment of the interim benchmarks in early 2027,” he said.Ukraine and the European Commission have established a joint task force to accelerate that work. Koretskyi identified judicial reform, anti-corruption efforts, and public administration as priorities.Kyiv moves toward closing its first chaptersAccession chapters cover individual policy areas in which candidates must align their legislation and institutions with EU requirements. They are grouped into broader negotiating clusters.Ukraine has opened four of its six clusters: fundamentals, external relations, the internal market, competitiveness, and inclusive growth.The latest advance came on Oct. 13, when negotiations opened on the internal-market and competitiveness clusters, together covering 17 chapters. The EU also established benchmarks that Ukraine must meet before those chapters can be provisionally closed.Opening negotiations allows detailed work to proceed across those policy areas. Closing a chapter requires a further assessment of whether Ukraine has fulfilled the relevant conditions. Other Topics of Interest The Balkan Affair: Why Serbia and Bulgaria’s Elections Offer Little Comfort to Ukraine Serbia’s political upheaval offers no guarantee of a break with Moscow, while Bulgaria’s vote strengthens a government restricting military aid to Ukraine. The Commission’s accession guidance says every EU government must be satisfied with a candidate’s progress before negotiations on an individual chapter can be closed.Hungary remains a hurdle for the remaining clustersKyiv’s timetable also depends on overcoming political obstacles within the bloc.President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar agreed to rebuild relations during talks in Brussels on Oct. 16, following a breakthrough over minority education rights.Ukraine’s parliament had adopted education amendments expanding rights for national minorities whose languages are official EU languages. Hungary subsequently dropped its objections to opening the internal-market and competitiveness clusters.However, Budapest blocked another procedural step on Oct. 20, refusing to approve screening results for the remaining two clusters, European Pravda reported, citing EU diplomats.Those clusters cover the green agenda and sustainable connectivity, resources, agriculture, and cohesion. Their scope includes energy, transport, environmental protection, farming, food safety, and regional policy.Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, has also said it wants the remaining clusters opened before the end of 2026. Opening them requires agreement among all 27 member states.The 2028 goal depends on faster reformsUkraine previously set a goal of completing accession negotiations by the end of 2028.The European Commission acknowledged that ambition in its enlargement package published on Nov. 4, 2025. It committed to supporting the objective while warning that Ukraine needed to accelerate reforms, particularly on the rule of law.That assessment praised Ukraine’s progress despite Russia’s full-scale invasion, including its completion of screening and adoption of reform roadmaps. It also raised concerns about pressure on anti-corruption institutions and the need to safeguard their independence.The 2028 objective concerns completing negotiations. It does not establish a guaranteed date for Ukraine to become an EU member.Membership requires further approvalsUkraine applied for EU membership on Feb. 28, 2022, four days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. It received candidate status in June 2022 and formally began accession negotiations in June 2024.Even after all chapters are closed, Ukraine would need an accession treaty setting out the terms of membership.That treaty must receive the necessary EU institutional approvals, be signed by Ukraine and every existing member state, and undergo ratification according to their constitutional procedures.The pace therefore depends on implementing reforms and securing successive approvals. Meeting the government’s 2027 milestones would represent progress toward the broader goal, while leaving further negotiations and ratification ahead. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 90% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.