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The European Commission on Wednesday presented indicative accession roadmaps for Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine, as well as plans to deepen candidate countries’ integration into key EU sectors before they become members. Anadolu Agency reported.
The measures are part of the Commission’s 2026 Enlargement Package, which assesses progress by enlargement partners over the past year and sets out reform priorities for the period ahead.
The roadmaps establish milestones and targets for the four countries, which the Commission said had made “significant progress” in accession negotiations by opening negotiation clusters and provisionally closing chapters.
Montenegro has provisionally closed 21 negotiating chapters, the most of the four countries, and could provisionally close the remaining chapters by the end of this year.
“Work on Montenegro’s accession treaty is already underway ... Montenegro is on track to become the 28th member of the European Union in 2028,” European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos told lawmakers at the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Albania opened its last remaining negotiation cluster during the reporting period and met interim benchmarks on rule of law chapters, paving the way for the provisional closure of four chapters.
The Commission said Albania could conclude accession negotiations by 2027, but said continued reform momentum and inclusive political dialogue would be essential.
Moldova met the conditions needed to open all remaining clusters. The Commission said maintaining the current pace of reforms would be crucial to the country’s goal of concluding accession negotiations by early 2028.
Ukraine also met the conditions required to open all remaining clusters, while the Commission identified the rule of law, democratic institutions and public administration reform as key priorities.
Plans for gradual integration before membership
Alongside the accession roadmaps, the Commission presented a common framework for gradually bringing candidate countries closer to the bloc before formal membership.
The framework identifies opportunities for deeper cooperation and integration in strategic sectors, including energy, transport, digital technologies and defence.
Kos said the model would bring clear benefits to candidate countries and EU member states while advancing shared strategic priorities.
She said the Commission would launch gradual integration dialogues with enlargement partners in the first quarter of next year to assess existing measures and their financing, and identify further opportunities for integration.
The discussions will help determine opportunities tailored to each partner.
Commission flags lack of progress in other countries
Serbia made no substantive progress in accession negotiations, the Commission said, citing concerns about democratic standards, societal polarisation and the country’s limited alignment with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.
North Macedonia continued work on opening benchmarks but has yet to adopt the constitutional amendments it committed to make.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s integration process has been increasingly affected by political divisions, while Kosovo’s process has stalled amid a prolonged institutional crisis.
Georgia’s accession process remains “de facto halted,” and the Commission maintained its assessment that the country is a candidate “in name only.”
