Dear Ministers, dear Deputy Prime Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the European Commission, I would like to congratulate you, I would like to also congratulate your team and also the people of Ukraine, because the achievement that we see today, it is thanks to the dedicated work of you Olga, your team, but also the people of Ukraine, who continue to show immense courage in defending their own country.
I also want to congratulate the Belgium Presidency for their tireless efforts making this Intergovernmental Conference happen today.
And I just want to recall that Ukraine applied for EU membership only 5 days after the beginning of the Russian aggression. And it shows the significance that the membership perspective has for Ukraine, but also for other candidate countries.
From the EU's perspective, enlargement is and remains a geostrategic investment in the long-term peace, security, stability and prosperity for the whole of our continent.
Despite challenging times, Ukraine has made substantial progress on reforms. I should recall that Ukraine was granted a candidate country status in 2022 as a recognition of the EU integration related reforms made over many years since the Revolution of Dignity.
I'm pleased that recent major decisions on Ukraine's accession have created further reform dynamic, with strong support from civil society and the wider population. Ukraine has fulfilled the steps to formally open accession negotiations. Reform progress needs to be substantiated over a longer period. I encourage Ukraine to continue its efforts to achieve full compliance with all membership criteria.
The negotiating framework presented provides a sound basis and a wide-ranging set of tools for the accession negotiations. It incorporates the revised enlargement methodology, which puts an ever-stronger emphasis on the fundamentals clusters and reforms.
The Commission is ready to start the bilateral screening exercise in the coming weeks, and this should benefit from the robust preparatory work already undertaken with your administration. We are ready to support Ukraine to prepare for assuming its obligations as Member State of the European Union throughout the negotiations.
The accession negotiations take hard work and leadership. Ukraine has already taken important steps, considering the work of its government and its processes. Progress on the accession track implies a substantiated commitment and robust coordination among all institutions and your entire administration.
Preparations for membership will inject change to major parts of the society, the economy and the entirety of your country. The transformative power of enlargement will take shape actually throughout the negotiating process rather than on the day of accession itself, accounting you to ensure an inclusive approach all along the process, working with the stakeholders, the parliamentary opposition, the local authorities as well as the civil society, including the representatives of national minorities. We strongly encourage Ukraine to ensure the irreversibility of the progress in these areas and it's full and effective implementation. Progress will continue to be closely monitored by the Commission, which we will report regularly to the Council.
Engaging bilaterally with Member States on issues of special concern will remain important. We also strongly encourage Ukraine to ensure the space for independent media as well as respect for fundamental freedoms throughout the accession process. It would also be crucial to communicate regularly to the wider public the benefits and the opportunities the accession process creates for all citizens in as well as on EU support. Public awareness that negotiations process will take some time and a lot of effort is important in maintaining the popular support on the accession process over time.
The Commission will continue to accompany, support and advise Ukraine in all necessary ways, including through financial and expert assistance. The Commission's role is to make sure that the process abides by European principles and European standards. Our objective is to make sure that Ukraine will be well prepared when it joins.
With the €50 billion Ukraine Facility the EU has scaled up our support to Ukraine. The new facility includes funding for the state budget, technical assistance and investment support instruments. It will support Ukraine's economy and its reform agenda envisaged in the Ukraine plan.
