Associate Membership for Ukraine: Well-Intentioned, but Leads Nowhere

IDM Director Sebastian Schäffer and Research Associate Sophia Beiter argue that Friedrich Merz’s proposal for an EU „associate membership“ for Ukraine, while well-intentioned, risks repeating a familiar European pattern: intermediate integration formatsthat gradually substitute for actual membership rather than accelerating it. The Turkish example looms large. 

Participation in EU structures ahead of accession can be valuable, IDM has published a concrete framework for exactly this in a Policy Paper. But no format should replace or slow down the formal accession process. What Ukraine needs is not a newinstitutional category, but stronger political will, faster chapter reviews, and credible security guarantees. Ukraine’s place is in the EU as a full member not in a waiting room with no clear exit. 

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