Organiser: German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF)

Format: in-person

Ukraine's EU accession process has entered a decisive phase. After a prolonged blockage at Council level, negotiations on the Fundamentals cluster formally opened on 15 June 2026, followed by the External Relations cluster on 14 July. In October, the remaining obstacle to opening the Internal Market and Competitiveness clusters was lifted, and the European Commission's 2026 Enlargement Package, due on 28 October, is expected to include an indicative accession roadmap for Ukraine.

Yet political momentum alone will not set the pace. Under the "fundamentals first" approach, progress on the interim benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24 (judicial independence, anti-corruption and law enforcement) determines how fast negotiations advance overall. Delivering on these benchmarks in wartime, while safeguarding the independence of key institutions, is now the central test of Ukraine's accession.

Held one day after the expected release of the 2026 Enlargement Package, the forum brings EU institutions, Ukrainian decision-makers and civil society into one conversation on what rule-of-law reforms require next. In line with the objectives of the EU Enlargement Forum, it aims to turn the Commission's assessment into concrete next steps: identifying which benchmarks have been met and where implementation lags behind legislation, examining how EU institutions can use their leverage to keep negotiations on track, and assessing whether the conditionality attached to EU macro-financial support is driving lasting institutional change.

By setting the Commission's findings against independent assessments by Ukrainian civil society and think tanks, the forum seeks to build a shared, evidence-based picture of progress and practical recommendations for both Kyiv and Brussels.

Speakers

• Penny Naas - Senior Vice President for Innovation and Competitiveness and Head of Brussels Office, The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF)

• Taras Kachka - Head of the Mission of Ukraine to the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community

• Thomas Hans Ossowski - Permanent Representative of Germany to the European Union

• Anna Jarosz-Friis - Director, Ukraine Service, DG ENEST, European Commission

• Yaroslav Zhelezniak - Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, First Deputy Chair of the Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy

• Clemens Mueller - Team Leader, Rule of Law, Ukraine Service, DG ENEST, European Commission

• Kateryna Ryzhenko - Deputy Executive Director, Transparency International Ukraine

• Karyna Penska - Advocacy Manager, DEJURE Foundation

• Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze – Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the European Union

• Maija Celmina - Cabinet of Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission

• Hlib Vyshlinsky - Executive Director, Centre for Economic Strategy

• Oleksandra Betliy - Leading Research Fellow, Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting

Moderators

• Olena Prokopenko - Senior Fellow, Head of Ukraine Programs Brussels, The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF)

• Mattia Nelles - CEO and Co-founder, German-Ukrainian Bureau

• Tinatin Tsertsvadze - Advocacy Advisor, Open Society Foundations