Ukraine has already demonstrated significant progress in its preparations for European Union membership despite operating under extremely difficult conditions. However, the practical implementation of reforms across regions and communities remains a key challenge. This is the central finding of a new study, «Ukraine’s EU Accession in Practice: Sectoral Harmonisation, Regional Implementation, and Public Perceptions», prepared by analysts from the NGO «National Interests Advocacy Network «ANTS».
Experts analyzed how EU integration reforms are being implemented across the energy sector, social policy, business support, the rule of law, and security at both the national and local levels.
One of the study’s primary conclusions is that Ukraine has made notable progress in the energy sector, largely due to the synchronization of its power grid with Europe and the development of community energy resilience. However, across many other areas, a significant gap persists between the adoption of reforms in Kyiv and their actual execution on the ground.
Communities are grappling with staff shortages, limited budgets, complex procedures, and a lack of institutional capacity. This directly impacts the development of social services, support for veterans and internally displaced persons (IDPs), service accessibility, anti-corruption mechanisms, and support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The research indicates that the local level is now critically important to the overall success of EU integration. Prior to the full-scale invasion, numerous communities had already adopted transparent procedures, digital services, and accountability tools. Since 2022, local priorities have shifted toward survival, energy security, and collaboration with European partners.
Analysts from the ANTS Network emphasize that the next stage of EU accession negotiations must incorporate support for regional implementation, community training, the development of local expertise, and investment in administrative capacity.
Priority recommendations for the EU, the Government of Ukraine, and oblasts/communities include:
- Building regional partnerships between Ukrainian communities and EU municipalities;
- Financing local project preparation, rather than solely focusing on infrastructure;
- Creating regional implementation benchmarks to support the accession process;
- Strengthening independent monitoring and integrity safeguards at the local level;
- Delivering a social acquis package with a focus on community-level services;
- Communities, for their part, should improve social service delivery (developing local services for veterans, persons with disabilities, and IDPs);
- Strengthening local business and SME support in the regions;
- Implementing open data and public reporting mechanisms to build trust.
The full text of the study, «Ukraine’s EU Accession in Practice: Sectoral Harmonisation, Regional Implementation, and Public Perceptions», along with the complete list of recommendations, can be accessed via this link.
The ultimate success of Ukraine’s EU integration will be determined by how effectively European standards function within specific communities, hospitals, social services, energy systems, and local businesses. Therefore, strengthening regional capacity today is a fundamental matter of Ukraine’s strategic readiness for EU membership.
This project, «Stronger Europe, United Front – Advancing Ukraine’s EU Membership for Greater Resilience and Security», was funded by the European Union. The content of this material is the sole responsibility of the «ANTS» NGO and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
