Government approves update to Ukraine Plan to strengthen the European integration dimension of the Ukraine Facility

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved amendments to the Ukraine Plan under the Ukraine Facility programme. The update aims to strengthen the Plan’s connection with Ukraine’s EU accession process, take into account the experience of implementing the programme, and create conditions for attracting an additional EUR 8.35 billion in support through the Ukraine Facility via the Ukraine Support Loan mechanism.

The Ukraine Plan is the key document for the implementation of the Ukraine Facility programme. It defines the list of reforms and transformations required for economic development, the country’s recovery, and progress towards EU membership.

Work on updating the Ukraine Plan lasted several months with the participation of the European Commission, central executive authorities, Members of the Ukrainian Parliament, and other stakeholders. This approach made it possible to align the proposed changes with the needs of reform implementation and state policy priorities.

The main goal of the update is to strengthen the link between the Ukraine Plan and the EU accession process. For this reason, the new and revised indicators are directly linked to Ukraine’s European integration commitments, EU accession negotiation benchmarks, and the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU law. In practice, the implementation of the updated Ukraine Plan will mean the simultaneous fulfilment of a significant part of Ukraine’s obligations on its path to EU membership. Thus, the Ukraine Facility is gradually becoming not only a tool for financial support and recovery, but also a practical instrument of European integration.

The review of the Ukraine Plan also takes into account the introduction of an updated approach to partial payments under the Ukraine Facility. This approach allows for fuller consideration of actual progress in implementing reforms, including the early completion of certain steps, and makes the funding system more predictable for all parties involved.

The update also incorporates practical experience from the implementation of the Ukraine Facility, including greater predictability in reform implementation, improved coordination between state institutions, and reduced risks of delays in achieving indicators.

The main areas of the update cover the rule of law, energy, corporate governance, and other areas related to Ukraine’s European integration commitments.

In total, the review proposes updating 35 steps and adding 26 new ones, of which (preliminarily) 10 are legislative and 16 are government decisions. The final list of changes will be published after the approval procedures with the European Union are completed.

At the same time, the update of the Ukraine Plan preserves the strategic goals of the reforms and the level of ambition of the state’s commitments. It is about further developing the instrument and adapting it to new tasks related to European integration and the country’s recovery amid full-scale war.

Updating the Ukraine Plan is a standard procedure within the implementation of the Ukraine Facility programme. A similar review of the document has already taken place previously and is common practice for multi-year support instruments implemented jointly with the EU. According to the established mechanism, after approval by the Government, the proposed changes must be endorsed by the EU Council. Only after these procedures are completed will the updated Ukraine Plan enter into force and move to the implementation stage.

Background

The Ukraine Facility is an EU financial support programme for Ukraine worth EUR 50 billion, aimed at ensuring macroeconomic stability, modernisation, reconstruction, and accelerating Ukraine’s European integration in 2024–2027. Funding is provided in tranches following confirmation of Ukraine’s implementation of the agreed structural steps.

Overall, under the Ukraine Facility, Ukraine has already received more than EUR 29.4 billion in financial support thanks to the consistent implementation of measures provided for in the Ukraine Plan.