EU priorities are not the government’s priorities: how the Ministry of Justice remains silent on key reforms
The Ministry of Justice has reported “progress achieved” in implementing the Rule of Law Roadmap — the plan of key reforms required for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. However, behind this rhetoric lies a simple fact: some of the most important European integration steps in the justice sector and the anti-corruption system remain unfulfilled. Instead of systemic changes, the authorities are focusing on secondary measures and attempting to present them as major achievements.
One of the most problematic points is the verification of judges’ integrity declarations. According to the plan, the law regulating this procedure — including verification of Supreme Court judges with the involvement of international experts — was supposed to be adopted in Q2 2025. Even after the missed deadline, there has been no visible progress toward implementing the reform.
Priorities for 2026: most points still stalled
At the end of 2025, European Commissioner Marta Kos and Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Taras Kachka agreed on a list of ten priority reforms for 2026, the implementation of which is a mandatory condition for the success of Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations. “This is not a new plan. These ten items were defined as priorities,” Marta Kos emphasised.
As of now, there is virtually no progress on most of these points:
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Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code to facilitate the work of NABU and SAPO: comprehensive changes have not been adopted, and the so-called Lozovyi amendments have not been repealed.
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Forensic examinations. for NABU: no systemic solution ensuring fast and impartial forensic examinations.
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Prosecutor General: the procedure for appointment and dismissal has not been revised, and reform has not been launched.
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Selection of prosecutors: full-fledged competitions for senior positions have not been restored.
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State Bureau of Investigation reform: the draft law promised by the President has still not been submitted to Parliament.
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Constitutional Court and High Council of Justice: candidates who passed international vetting have not been appointed.
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High Qualification Commission of Judges: no progress on the draft law restoring international experts to the Selection Commission.
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Judges’ integrity declarations: the law has not been adopted, and the deadline has been missed.
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Anti-Corruption Strategy and State Anti-Corruption Program: the documents for 2026–2030 have not been adopted or approved.
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Internal anti-corruption control: no systemic strengthening at the state level, only isolated decisions.
“Achievements of 2025” that do not fulfil key obligations
Among the achievements of 2025, the Ministry of Justice lists, in particular:
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rules of ethics for Constitutional Court judges;
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the concept of an electronic justice system;
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the Law on Academic Integrity;
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the law on reform of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency;
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the national drug strategy.
These steps may be useful, but they do not replace the implementation of the reforms on which progress in EU negotiations actually depends — in particular, launching an effective verification of judges’ integrity declarations and implementing the top-10 priorities for 2026.
What Are the Risks?
Marta Kos stated that without fulfilling the agreed priorities, full EU membership will not be possible. Replacing key reforms with secondary decisions creates a real risk that Ukraine will remain stuck in the negotiation process for a long time.
DEJURE calls on the authorities to stop substituting real change with reporting and to move to the implementation of the commitments already undertaken.
The first steps should be the adoption of the law on verification of judges’ integrity declarations and the restoration of international experts’ participation in the Selection Commission for the High Qualification Commission of Judges.
