EU to amend rules to prevent Ukraine from losing funds over anti-corruption court judge selection

The European Union will adjust the rules of the Ukraine Facility program to prevent Ukraine from losing funding due to an incompletely met indicator on filling vacancies in the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC). This was announced by Deputy Minister of Economy Daria Marchak.

Previously, the program operated on an all-or-nothing principle for quantitative indicators such as "hire X judges." Now the European Commission has agreed to introduce partial crediting – if an indicator is fulfilled to a significant extent, it will be partially recognized. The new rules will also apply retroactively to the previous phase of the program, including the commitment to fill HACC vacancies.

The deadline for this indicator expired in mid-2025, but the judge selection process proved challenging. The first competition was unsuccessful, and in the second round, which concluded in May, Ukraine aimed to select 24 judges but only 22 candidates were approved by the qualification commission. Ukraine has two more months to appoint them, but a new competition cannot be organized in that timeframe.

Thanks to the amended rules, Kyiv may avoid losing about 300 million euros tied to this indicator. Additionally, the government reported other changes: future funding will be strictly linked to progress in European integration.

Earlier, during a visit to Kyiv, European Commissioner Kos warned lawmakers about possible funding cuts. Following this warning, the Rada passed a controversial “European integration” bill on judicial reform.