Do You Know How Many of the 10 Points Confirming Ukraine’s EU Readiness Have Been Completed? None – Director of DEJURE Foundation

Ukraine and the EU agreed on a 10-point reform plan three months ago, yet no progress has been made; stalled institutions and courts threaten the country’s EU accession.

Despite it being spring, the feeling remains that we are sliding back into an abyss. Today marks exactly three months since Ukraine and the EU agreed on the “priority reform plan,” the so-called “Kachka-Kos list” of 10 points, the implementation of which was supposed to confirm Ukraine’s readiness to join the EU. According to Uatribune, this is reported by Mykhailo Zhernakov, Executive Director of the DEJURE Foundation.

Do you know how many of these 10 points the Ukrainian authorities have completed in three months? None. Absolutely zero. The draft law on the SBI, which the President promised by the end of January, has yet to be seen by anyone. Regarding the Prosecutor General, not only has the procedure not been changed — but even for Kravchenko, who promised to “come for everyone,” Daria Kaleniuk’s petition is being refused registration in the Office of the President without any explanation.

The situation in the courts is no better. The law on judges’ integrity declarations and the cleansing of the Supreme Court, which we were supposed to pass before June last year, is still not adopted because it hasn’t been fully hollowed out yet (and, by the way, this costs us about €700 million). At the same time, the Supreme Court is preparing to reinstate Pavlo Vovk, with a hearing scheduled for April 9.

The appointment of Constitutional Court judges (something we owe the EU since 2022) is again being dragged out to the maximum, and there are even attempts to undermine the international commission that selects them from within. Regarding the return of international members in the selection of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the situation is completely frozen, with repeated attempts to convince the EU (despite their very clear position that they must be reinstated) that no one will bring them back because “there aren’t enough votes.”

I won’t even mention Lozovyi’s amendments and other measures necessary for effective anti-corruption investigations. And where would any of this come from, when at Zelenskyy’s administration, simply no one is handling it. They haven’t even been able to appoint a Minister of Justice for several months.

If anything is being done (like the ongoing Constitutional Court competition), it’s only because of requirements of a law that has been in force since 2022, and certainly not because of fresh decisions from the political leadership. The latter, it seems, are still aimed at stagnation, or even rolling back reforms. Definitely not progress.

If there were any hopes that the latest political reshuffles would change this mega-trend, I think it’s safe to say they didn’t materialize. And so what if EU membership is a matter of national survival? Surely they’ll take us anyway, because we are so heroic and have suffered so much. “We’ll somehow manage.”

They won’t take us. We won’t somehow “manage.” Because that’s not the criterion. The criterion is functional, working institutions — even at a minimal level. And they don’t exist. And for the few that do, obstacles are still being put in their way. By the way, in light of all this, the EU has already completely abandoned the idea of a “quick accession” for Ukraine. This news recently passed almost unnoticed — but it shouldn’t have.

Soon, even the idea of Ukraine’s accession in any form will start being abandoned. It’s not being openly discussed yet, but such sentiments are already taking root among EU members, and it’s not just Hungary. And then, a little more — hello, Georgian scenario. No progress. Disillusionment. Euroscepticism. Everyone fighting everyone else. Ruin. There isn’t even a little time left — there’s simply none. And we continue to play at something incomprehensible.

There is actually a solution, and it’s quite simple — the President just needs to gather the deputies and others who make decisions, make them fully understand the absolute necessity of implementing these points, and make it Priority #1. Because this is as essential for survival as anything else.

And finally appoint a person with a clear mandate whose only job every day is to deal with this list. Not imitation. Real change. Then we might still have a chance. But the decision needs to be made.

P.S. If there’s anything on this list of 10 points that has actually made huge progress but for some reason isn’t visible — say so. We need to be as objective as possible here.