Brussels – And here come the two crown jewels of another ‘Super Tuesday’ of EU enlargement, having joined a day packed with accession negotiations at the very last minute. The long-awaited opening of two more clusters is now complete, and Ukraine and Moldova can see the (first) finish line on the horizon: the start of closing negotiating chapters, one by one, before eventually following their own paths.
At the respective fourth Accession Conferences with Ukraine and Moldova on 13 October, Cluster 2 – ‘Internal Market’ and Cluster 3 – ‘Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth’ were opened, bringing the number of chapters opened for negotiation to 24 (out of 33). “Reforms will make it easier to trade across Europe, ensure fairer competition, make products safer and provide better consumer protection,” Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said, recalling that they are designed to enable candidate countries to integrate into the Single Market and align their economies with EU standards.
Following what Irish Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne, speaking on behalf of the rotating Presidency of the Council, described as “a prolonged period without movement,” four of the six clusters have now been opened for both Kyiv and Chișinău. The next step is to open the two remaining clusters – Cluster 4 – ‘Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity’ and Cluster 5 – ‘Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion’ – “as soon as possible,” Commissioner Kos made clear.
Kyiv’s and Chișinău’s accession paths remain linked by the so-called ‘package approach’, despite expectations that the formal opening of Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’ would mark a turning point in their decoupling. At the moment, there is still no political will in the Council to decouple the two accession paths. As EU officials expect, only the fulfilment of the interim benchmarks (IBAR) – which will make it possible to begin provisionally closing chapters – may represent the moment when, “de facto, it becomes clear that [the decoupling, ed.] has happened.”
Speaking of the interim benchmarks, Commissioner Kos was more cautious. “We are looking forward to seeing when the Interim Benchmark Assessment Report can be closed, because this is the precondition” for starting the final stage of the process, she stated, acknowledging the urgency expressed by both candidates. “Our top priority is meeting the benchmarks for Cluster 1 and securing a positive IBAR,” said Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Vsevolod Chentsov. His Moldovan counterpart, Cristina Gherasimov, stressed that “we would like the ambition of being ready for EU membership by 2030 to become a shared objective.”
Much of the two candidates’ expectations also rests on the Commission’s recent proposal to strengthen their gradual integration, including the mapping of strategic areas. “The more integrated our economies are during the accession process, the better prepared Ukraine will be at the time of membership, and the greater its contribution to the Single Market,” Chentsov recalled. “We have expressed interest in participating in additional programmes, and we will submit the kind requests to the Commission in the coming weeks,” Gherasimov stated.
However, one potential point of friction is the proposed targeted arrangements for Ukraine, which would significantly limit financial support and market access for sensitive agricultural products. Commissioner Kos confirmed that, once an EU member, Kyiv would become part of the Common Agricultural Policy “in a very special fashion.” How exactly? “This will be discussed among the Member States and Ukraine,” she warned, recalling that the details must be defined during the accession negotiations under Cluster 5.
After the opening of Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’ in June and Cluster 6 – ‘External Relations’ in July, Hungary slowed down the opening of further clusters for Ukraine and, consequently, for Moldova as well. This has complicated the two candidates’ efforts to begin negotiating the provisional closure of accession chapters by the end of the year.
The breakthrough on opening other two clusters for both countries came on 12 October, when the Ukrainian Parliament passed legislation on minority rights aimed at regulating the educational rights of national communities. Péter Magyar’s Hungary had made the opening of the two groups of chapters conditional on the Ukrainian law – the result of a historic compromise reached in June.
Alongside the presentation of the 2026 Enlargement Package at the end of the month, the Commission is set to unveil the accession roadmaps for Ukraine and Moldova – together with Albania and Montenegro – providing a clearer framework for where, and potentially when, the reforms and conditions expected of each candidate could take them in their respective accession negotiations. The roadmaps are expected to include indicative timelines for closing the negotiating chapters.
The state of EU relations with Ukraine and Moldova
Just four days after the start of Russia’s war of aggression, on 28 February 2022, Ukraine submitted its application for EU membership, with Moldova following three days later, on 3 March. On 23 June 2022, the European Council endorsed the European Commission’s recommendation to grant Kyiv and Chișinău candidate status.
At the European Council meeting on 14 December 2023, EU leaders gave the green light to open accession negotiations. Following the Council’s approval of the negotiating frameworks, the first intergovernmental conferences with the two countries were held on 25 June 2024 in Luxembourg. As recognised in the 2025 Enlargement Package, the screening process has been successfully concluded with both Kyiv and Chișinău.
With Viktor Orbán’s Hungary vetoing the start of Ukraine’s EU negotiations, Moldova’s accession has also been put on hold, as Chișinău’s EU process is tied to Kyiv’s through the so-called “package approach” (which has linked the two dossiers from the very beginning).
On 17 March 2026, technical guidance was provided by the Commission to continue work on EU reforms across all six negotiating clusters, before the change of power in Budapest paved the way for the opening of Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’ with both Ukraine and Moldova on 15 June. To date, 24 negotiating chapters have been opened.
