Ukraine’s accession talks have reached four of six policy clusters, while a June survey put support for membership among EU residents at 47%, placing public resistance alongside the bloc’s formal progress.
The June 2026 survey by Nira Data for Bertelsmann Stiftung found that 47% of EU respondents favored Ukraine joining in the coming years and 53% opposed it. Support stood at 69% in March 2022. The question gave no target date for entry. The survey also found Ukrainians more willing than EU residents to accept short-term economic costs associated with accession.
Ukraine applied for membership in February 2022, received candidate status in June that year and began formal negotiations in June 2024, according to the European Commission. On Oct. 13, 2026, the Council of the EU announced that talks had opened in two more clusters: Internal Market and Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth. That brought the total to four of six.
Candidates must meet political and economic conditions and show their administrations can apply EU law. Every member state must agree before formal negotiations open. An accession treaty also requires European Parliament consent, unanimous Council approval and ratification by all parties.
Reuters reported that Polish farmer Miroslaw Halej had joined protests over Ukrainian grain imports. Reuters said Halej feared competition from Ukraine’s lower-cost agricultural sector could push prices down. “The biggest worry is definitely that the prices of our products would drop,” he told Reuters. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi told Reuters that Ukraine’s membership would benefit the European Union.
The European Commission’s Oct. 6 proposal outlines closer cooperation with candidate countries in energy, transport, digital and defense policy. It leaves room for temporary arrangements on agriculture, sensitive products and funding. The Commission asked EU institutions to advance discussions; the proposal sets no accession date or Ukraine-specific agricultural limits.
