Ukraine and Moldova opened two more clusters of EU accession talks in Luxembourg on October 13, leaving only two of the six still closed to them, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said.

All 27 member states agreed to open Cluster 2, the internal market, and Cluster 3, competitiveness and inclusive growth, which run from the free movement of goods, workers, services and capital to economic policy, taxation, digital transformation, education and science.

Ukraine marked the step at a ceremony in Luxembourg, where EU foreign ministers were meeting. The way was cleared after Hungary dropped its objections once the Rada passed a law on minority-language education that Budapest had made a condition of its support.

Both countries now have 24 of the 33 policy chapters open, and Brussels wants the last two clusters, covering the green agenda and agriculture, opened by the end of the year.

Actual membership is another matter. Moldova aims to finish the technical talks by 2028 and join by 2030, a timetable Brussels has called achievable. Kyiv wants to join on the same schedule, but with a war still raging, a farm sector the EU is nervous about absorbing and a string of corruption scandals at home, 2030 looks out of reach. As far back as November 2025 EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said 2030 was a more realistic date than Kyiv’s own 2028 target for closing talks.

“With four of the six clusters now open, we must keep the momentum and ensure that the next steps follow without delay,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media, thanking the Irish EU presidency, the European Commission and member states.

“Ukraine’s and Moldova’s future is in our Union. And we will support them all along the way,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote.

Negotiating chapters opened and provisionally closed by EU candidate countries, out of 33 policy chapters (chapters 34 and 35 are dealt with at the end of talks). Source: European Commission, Kyiv Independent, kos_data; IntelliNews

Six clusters, 33 chapters

Since 2020 the EU has grouped the 35 chapters of its law that a candidate must adopt into six clusters, which are opened as blocks. Chapters are then closed one by one as each is completed. Chapter 34, on institutions, and Chapter 35, other issues, are handled at the end. The six clusters are:


Fundamentals: the judiciary and fundamental rights, justice, freedom and security, public procurement, statistics and financial control (chapters 23, 24, 5, 18 and 32), plus the functioning of democratic institutions and public administration reform. It is opened first and closed last, and sets the pace of the whole negotiation. Ukraine and Moldova opened it on June 15;
Internal market: free movement of goods, workers and capital, the right of establishment and freedom to provide services, company law, intellectual property, competition, financial services, and consumer and health protection (chapters 1-4, 6-9 and 28). Opened on October 13;
Competitiveness and inclusive growth: the digital economy and media, taxation, economic and monetary policy, social policy and employment, enterprise and industrial policy, science and research, education and culture, and the customs union (chapters 10, 16, 17, 19, 20, 25, 26 and 29). Opened on October 13;
Green agenda and sustainable connectivity: transport, energy, trans-European networks, and environment and climate change (chapters 14, 15, 21 and 27). Not yet opened, expected by end-2026;
Resources, agriculture and cohesion: agriculture and rural development, food safety, fisheries, regional policy and the budget (chapters 11, 12, 13, 22 and 33). Not yet opened, and the hardest for Ukraine given the size of its farm sector;
External relations: external relations and foreign, security and defence policy (chapters 30 and 31). Opened on July 14.
 

Moldova pulls ahead

Brussels has formally separated the two tracks, saying each candidate will now move at the pace of its own reforms, and Chisinau is moving faster. Prime Minister Vasile Tofan told reporters in Brussels on October 5 that he hoped to open all remaining clusters this year. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said Moldova’s accession “could happen” during the term of the parliament elected in September 2025.

The Commission will present a roadmap for Moldova with deadlines and reform targets in its annual enlargement package on October 28, alongside similar plans for Montenegro, Albania and Ukraine, the four candidates Kos describes as the most advanced. The EU is also assessing Moldova’s reforms ahead of a €157mn tranche from its €1.9bn Growth Plan.

Corruption drags on Kyiv

Ukraine’s anti-corruption record is the main weight on its bid. The Commission’s last progress report downgraded Ukraine from an “A+” candidate to a “B” in November 2025, citing slow judicial reform and backsliding on anti-corruption measures.

That followed a crisis in July 2025, when Zelenskiy signed Law 12414, which placed the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) under the presidentially appointed prosecutor general. The move sparked the first anti-government protests since the full-scale invasion, and after pressure from Brussels the Rada restored the agencies’ independence nine days later.

Months later NABU’s Operation Midas probe uncovered a $100mn kickback scheme at state nuclear operator Energoatom that reached into Zelenskiy’s inner circle. In September von der Leyen told Zelenskiy that no more EU money would be brought forward until the Rada passed the reforms tied to the Fundamentals cluster.

Balkan frontrunners

Montenegro, which began talks in 2012, remains furthest ahead. It closed three more chapters in Luxembourg on October 12, taking its total to 21, and plans to close the remaining 12 by the end of the year. Kos has said it could sign an accession treaty in summer 2027 and join in 2028 as the bloc’s 28th member.

Albania, which opened its final cluster in November 2025, provisionally closed Chapter 20 on enterprise and industrial policy on October 13, its fourth, and is aiming for membership by 2030. Serbia has opened 22 chapters and closed two, but has not opened a new one since December 2021. North Macedonia has yet to open any, pending constitutional amendments the EU has made a precondition.

European voters are a further hurdle. A survey for the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s eupinions project published on October 13 found 47% of EU citizens back Ukraine joining in the next few years, while 53% are opposed. Support was highest in Sweden at 69% but just 41% in Germany and 40% in Romania.