Accelerated integration of Ukraine into the EU in the energy sector

Kopač

September 2025

Ukraine is already actively engaged in some EU institutions, bodies, and platforms within the  energy sector, yet many opportunities remain underexplored. Such engagement offers valuable  opportunities for learning, capacity building, and networking.  While such participation requires some administrative capacity and entails costs (membership fee),  it also prepares the authorities for accession to the EU as a Member State in 2030.  In addition, given plans to couple its electricity market with the EU in early 2027, Ukraine needs to be an active participant in the institutions that create the market rules.  

Not all institutions have the same importance for Ukraine, but Ukrenergo's membership in  ENTSO-E has already contributed to the continuous increase of cross-border electricity trading capacities, which has helped Ukraine to survive constant Russian attacks on the energy infrastructure. This showed that early accession is sometimes of a top national interest.

Ukraine could start actively participating in all acquis-based institutions in which it is not yet present, but where the membership is already open.  The same applies to other EU bodies that are not explicitly covered by the acquis, but are active in the relevant discussion.

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