The decision on the status of the candidate for Ukraine in the EU has not yet been made. In addition, even in the traditionally skeptical capitals there is an understanding: Ukraine should offer something already at the June council - the only question is what exactly, Alena Hetmanchuk, director of the New Europe Center, writes in the article..

“Many of our interlocutors appealed to the content of the future conclusion of the European Commission based on the answers provided by the Ukrainian side in the questionnaire. Now four options are being considered, what a possible withdrawal of the European Commission will look like, ”says the expert.

The first option is unequivocally positive, it will recommend unconditionally granting Ukraine candidate status at the June Council. The second option is the so-called conditional conclusion: a recommendation to grant a candidate subject to the fulfillment by Ukraine of certain prerequisites in the field of the rule of law, anti-corruption, freedom of the media. The third option is to offer Ukraine a European perspective. The fourth option is to propose a potential candidate status, such as Bosnia and Kosovo currently have. It is possible that the output will contain a mix of two options - primarily the second and fourth.

“Thus, at the level of the representatives of the EU countries involved in the negotiations, the most discussed is the possibility of mixing the potential candidate status with a list of prerequisites - a kind of reform roadmap - to obtain candidate status.. This, of course, is not what Ukraine needs: roadmaps are needed for membership, we are qualified enough for candidacy without additional prerequisites,"

In addition, it is surprising that, without the European Commission's decision yet, some capitals are already pondering the idea of \u200b\u200ba reform roadmap for obtaining a candidacy, the expert says..

“This makes the position of the member states very hypocritical, where they say that everything will depend on the conclusion of the EC. Or maybe some member countries have reason to believe that the conclusion of the European Commission will not be clear enough and, finally, decisions will be made in the member countries, that is, there will be a kind of ping-pong between Brussels and the capitals. Moreover, several capitals.

Since there will be very little time between the submission of the withdrawal and the EU Council, the local government representatives responsible for EU issues are already forming positions today, without waiting for the withdrawal,” Hetmanchuk emphasizes..

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Read more about the “confrontation with reality” and proposals on how to overcome it by June in Olena Getmanchuk’s article “EU candidate status: who and why is ready to refuse Ukraine”.