The European Commission is preparing conditional accession roadmaps for four candidates ahead of a Nov. 4 package, as chapter counts show uneven progress toward joining the European Union.
The Commission named Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine for indicative roadmaps, which depend on continued reform progress. The package follows the Euronews EU Enlargement Summit scheduled in Brussels for Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Montenegro has opened all 33 negotiating chapters, with 21 provisionally closed, Council of the European Union figures show. The EU and Montenegro provisionally closed three additional chapters on Oct. 12. Albania has also opened all 33 chapters; the EU and Albania provisionally closed chapter 20 on Oct. 13, bringing its total to four.
The four countries cannot be ranked on one chapter count: Ukraine and Moldova negotiate in clusters. The Council said the two countries opened clusters 2 and 3 on Oct. 13, covering 17 chapters.
EU governments assess each policy area separately, and completing one part of the file does not finish accession negotiations. Talks continue until every chapter has passed that review. Before membership, the Council of the EU, European Commission and European Parliament must support an accession treaty; the candidate and representatives of all current EU countries must sign it, and the candidate and every member state must ratify it.
The Commission says enlargement could create trade and investment opportunities for both the EU and candidate countries while strengthening the bloc’s economic resilience. Its October policy review proposed conditional, reversible gradual integration and stronger safeguards in future accession treaties, building on safeguards used in previous enlargements. For Ukraine, it proposed targeted limits on financial support and market access for sensitive agricultural products, citing the sector’s scale and productivity.
Euronews reported that Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s representative to the EU, said Kyiv was delivering reforms “faster and better” than before.
The Commission’s enlargement package is due Wednesday, Nov. 4.
