CSO Coalition is Launching a New Cycle of Monitoring and Assessing Ukraine’s Progress in the Field of European Integration under Chapters 23 and 24

Within the framework of the grant issued by EU Project Pravo-Justice, which is implemented by Expertise France, a coalition of civil society organisations — Agency for Legislative Initiatives, Transparency International Ukraine, ZMINA. Human Rights Centre, Tomorrow’s Lawyer, Ukrainian Bar Association and European Pravda— is launching a new cycle of monitoring and assessing Ukraine’s progress in the field of European integration under Chapters 23 ‘Justice and Fundamental Rights’ and 24 ‘Justice, Freedom and Security’.

These chapters are part of Cluster 1 ‘Fundamentals’, which is key for the entire negotiation process on Ukraine’s accession to the EU. The results of monitoring and assessing Ukraine’s progress under both chapters will be presented in the Shadow Report 2025.

This report will contain:

• an analysis of the progress made by Ukraine under Chapters 23 and 24 since the publication of the European Commission’s Report on Ukraine in 2024 for each area; and as to Chapter 23, also in relation to the recommendations provided in the Shadow Report 2024;
• a detailed analysis of the problems that have arisen within the reform process for each area of both chapters;
• a description of the current state of affairs in the areas of public policy under Chapter 24 in general and in specific areas under Chapter 23 (which were not in the focus of the previous monitoring) from the perspective of civil society.

In addition, the report will focus on the following questions:

• what has been done in each area during the monitoring period;
• to what extent what has been done will allow achieving the set goals;
• to what extent it meets public expectations.

“There will be a separate part in the Shadow Report 2025, which will contain specific and practical recommendations of the coalition on solving the identified problems in each area, which will trace the guidelines for further state policy in each area,” said Svitlana Matviienko, Executive Director at the Agency for Legislative Initiatives.

As part of monitoring and assessing Ukraine’s progress, the coalition members will also pay special attention to analysing the status of:

• Ukraine’s implementation of the recommendations provided by the European Commission in the reports on Ukraine in 2023–2024 and the first screening report of Cluster 1 ‘Fundamentals of the EU Accession Process’;
• taking into account, by state authorities responsible for the implementation of relevant state policies, the civil society’s recommendations set out in the Shadow Report on Section 23 ‘Justice and Fundamental Rights’ of the European Commission’s Report on Ukraine in 2023.

“Preparing shadow reports is an important tool for countries aspiring to the EU membership, as it is an independent assessment of real progress in fulfilling the membership criteria. This year, we supported the expansion of monitoring to cover not only Chapter 23, but also Chapter 24, which embrace all together the key areas of Cluster 1 ‘Fundamentals of the EU Accession Process’. It is important that the Shadow Report shows not only changes in legislation, but also how they work in practice, and becomes a milestone for further reforms. For EU Project Pravo-Justice, supporting such an initiative is a contribution to strengthening the role of civil society in the European integration process and increasing the effectiveness of reforms,” emphasised Oksana Tsymbrivska, Team Leader of EU Project Pravo-Justice.

It should be noted that the Shadow Report will be drafted within the Project by the end of September 2025.

Background information.

Agency for Legislative Initiatives (ALI) is a leading independent Ukrainian think tank, whose activities are aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of the Parliament and Government, the judiciary, advancing European and Euro-Atlantic integration, supporting the reconstruction of Ukraine to overcome the consequences of Russian aggression, monitoring and supporting reforms in the field of justice and security, political and civic outreach.

Transparency International Ukraine (TI Ukraine) is an accredited representative of the global Transparency International movement. The organisation takes a comprehensive approach to implementing changes to reduce corruption in certain areas: it helped create and later transfer to the State Prozorro, Prozorro.Sales, eHealth, and Prozvit systems. TI Ukraine has also implemented the City Transparency and Accountability Ratings, has built the DOZORRO community for monitoring public procurement, and co-founded the RISE UA coalition, which safeguards integrity and efficiency in reconstruction

ZMINA Human Rights Center — The Center is engaged in outreach, educational, monitoring, analysis, and advocacy in the field of human rights; protects human rights defenders and public activists in Ukraine, in particular in the occupied Crimea. After the beginning of the large-scale Russian aggression, ZMINA, together with 38 other NGOs, created “Ukraine. 5 AM Coalition”, which is engaged in documenting war crimes and aims at protecting the victims of Russia’s armed aggression in Ukraine and holding accountable Russian top leadership and direct perpetrators of war crimes.

“Tomorrow’s Lawyer” is a civil society organisation that promotes institutional development of justice in order to establish the rule of law and protect human rights. Since 2016, the CSO has been conducting research on state policy and the state of affairs in the field of justice alongside developing recommendations for their improvement and development. Another priority of the organization is the professional development of legal communities.

Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) is an all-Ukrainian civil society organisation that was founded in 2002 and currently unites over 8,000 lawyers. The Association’s activities include promoting the development of the legal profession; improving legislation; implementing ethical standards; and protecting the professional rights of its members and human rights in general.

CSO ‘European Pravda’ is an independent Ukrainian media outlet specialising in covering European news and Ukraine’s European integration.

EU Project Pravo-Justice is a technical assistance project implemented by Expertise France with the financial support of the European Union.

After the victory of the Revolution of Dignity, EU Project Pravo-Justice became one of the drivers in promoting the rule of law in Ukraine, bringing the country’s legislative framework in line with European standards, developing a strategic vision of reforms, judicial reform, proper enforcement of judgments, etc.