The European Union is discussing a new package of temporary privileges for Ukraine.
The European Union is developing a package of temporary privileges for Ukraine that provides broader access to the European market and institutions without immediate full membership, Politico reports, citing four diplomats familiar with the discussions.
The new proposal emerged after EU leaders rejected the European Commission's idea of 'accelerated enlargement,' which envisioned Ukraine's accession before completing key reforms. Instead, Brussels is considering a model of 'accelerated phased integration' that aims to give Ukraine tangible benefits now while it continues to implement the necessary reforms for membership.
'Member states have made it clear that membership in the short term will be very difficult to envision,' one source said.
'But we need a positive proposal on how we can better move forward together until that time,' he added.
Germany and France are actively involved in developing the new proposal, Politico writes.
Last week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called accelerated membership for Ukraine impossible. At the same time, he suggested granting Kyiv the right to participate in European Council meetings without voting rights and to engage in separate formats of the European Parliament.
For its part, Lithuania proposes granting Ukraine an intermediate status of 'candidate state.' Previously, such status was given to countries that had already signed an accession agreement and were awaiting ratification.
The document states that Ukraine's case 'demonstrates that its European path has reached a level of resilience and direction that deserves such recognition.'
At the same time, Ukraine insists on specific economic assistance.
Ukraine's ambassador to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov, stated that Kyiv seeks 'phased access to the EU single market linked to progress in reforms, deeper participation in EU programs and institutions, as well as a swift conclusion of the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA).'
European officials emphasize that the new package of privileges will in no way replace the official accession process.
The EU is seeking a compromise model that will allow support for Ukraine now without violating strict enlargement rules. The new format could become an important intermediate step — a move towards integration, but without rapid political decisions on full membership, bb.lv reports.
