The European Commission considers four out of seven criteria, which accompanied the granting of candidate status for EU accession to Ukraine, to be fully met. This is stated in the report on Ukraine, an internal document of the European Commission.
The completed criteria are as follows:
- The implementation of legislation regarding the procedure for the selection of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in accordance with the recommendations of the Venice Commission.
- The completion of the integrity checks of candidates for members of the High Council of Justice and the establishment of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine.
- Compliance with anti-money laundering legislation with FATF standards and approval of the strategic plan for reforming the entire law enforcement sector.
- Media industry reform, bringing Ukrainian legislation in line with the EU Directive on audiovisual media services.
However, the remaining three criteria are associated with recommendations from the European Commission regarding further implementation.
Specifically, the fight against corruption is not considered fully completed. In this context, the European Commission expected, among other things, the appointment of a new head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.
The European Commission's document states that "Ukraine still needs to pass a law to increase the staffing of National Anti-Corruption Bureau and remove from the law on corruption prevention the provisions that limit NACP's powers to continue asset verification of those who have already undergone the verification process and restrictions on National Anti-Corruption Bureau's authority to check the property acquired by declarants before entering public service."
