Ukraine’s case: Moving towards the EU’s single digital market
Written by Oleg Burba, Senior Expert of the e-Governance Academy, Coordinator of the Cross-Border Interaction and Trust Services Direction of the European Union
Digital integration with the EU’s Digital Single Market is a strategic priority for Ukraine’s development, competitiveness, and future within a unified digital Europe. And the e-Governance Academy’s team is supporting Ukraine on this path.
European digital integration is, at its core, a gradual alignment with EU standards, infrastructure, and services. It is not only about technology, but about creating the conditions in which Ukrainian citizens, businesses, and public institutions can use the same digital services as those available across the European Union. In practical terms, it means that Ukrainians travelling to any EU country should be able to move confidently through everyday life, accessing services smoothly, securely, and without unnecessary barriers. Just as importantly, digital integration is a key component of Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations, and our mission is to strengthen Ukraine’s position throughout that process.
Through EU-funded projects such as DT4UA and EU4DigitalUA, implemented by the e-Governance Academy (Estonia), we work directly with Ukrainian partners to bring national legislation, digital infrastructure, and public services closer to EU standards, ensuring compatibility, security, and interoperability with European systems.
Ukraine has already delivered substantial results in digital European integration and, in several areas, is moving faster than many peers. For example, Ukraine has aligned legislation in the field of trust services with the eIDAS regulation; its trust services system is built according to European standards and has undergone multiple audits by EU experts; and Ukraine has successfully tested the compatibility of electronic documents with prototypes of the EU’s digital wallets.
These achievements not only bring Ukraine closer to EU digital standards, but also confirm our role as an active and reliable partner for European colleagues. And this is not only our assessment. The latest report of the European Commission on EU enlargement policy confirms the high degree of implementation of European standards in the field of electronic identification and electronic trust services.
These achievements bring Ukraine closer to EU digital standards and underline its role as an active, reliable partner for European colleagues. This progress is also recognised in the European Commission’s latest enlargement report, which highlights Ukraine’s strong results in implementing European standards on electronic identification and trust services.
Ukraine’s tangible progress in European digital integration
Ukraine has already made significant strides in digital integration with the EU. The most visible progress falls into three key areas.
1) Electronic identification and the digital wallet
Ukraine is actively developing its electronic identification system, enabling citizens to access public and private online services securely. For instance, Ukrainians can now use eID to access digital public services—such as business registration and tax services—cutting processes that once took weeks down to just a few hours. In addition, Diia.Signature-EU, launched in 2023, meets EU technical requirements and can be used to interact with European systems.
Ukraine is also taking an active role in EU-level pilot initiatives through European consortia. The first of these was POTENTIAL, which brought together EU member states and Ukraine to contribute to the development of the European Digital Identity Wallet—a tool intended to become a standard way to access public and commercial services across Europe. Today, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the State Enterprise Diia, with expert support from the e-Governance Academy (eGA), are continuing this work within the APTITUDE consortium. Notably, among the participating countries in these consortia, Ukraine is the only non-EU country.
2) Trust services and electronic signatures
Ukraine’s trust services framework already enables companies, citizens, and public authorities to use services that meet European legal requirements. As a result, Ukraine became the first non-EU country whose trust services system, including electronic signatures, has been formally recognised at the EU level. At present, the EU considers Ukraine’s trust services to be at an advanced level of trust. To reach a qualified level, the final step will be full mutual recognition and the signing of the relevant agreement between Ukraine and the EU.
3) eIDAS 2.0: alignment with EU legislation
Ukraine is systematically aligning its national legislation with eIDAS 2.0, the updated EU regulation that sets the rules for electronic identification and trust services. Through earlier projects, we supported implementation of the first version of eIDAS: Ukrainian legislation was fully adapted, the Integrated Electronic Identification System was deployed, and the eIDAS node was tested as part of the wider pan-European infrastructure. The next step is full alignment with the updated eIDAS 2.0 framework and its new EU standards.
The biggest challenge: legislation
Of course, we have already achieved significant progress, but there are still many challenges to address and tasks to deliver. The biggest challenge is legislation: Ukraine has not yet adopted the key law on personal data protection aligned with the GDPR, and it has only partially implemented the security requirements for digital services under NIS2. Adopting these laws—and ensuring their full implementation—is a necessary condition for Ukraine’s integration into the EU Digital Single Market. At the moment, the GDPR-aligned draft law has passed its first reading in the Verkhovna Rada, while around 80% of the NIS2 requirements have been implemented.
Beyond legislation, there are also ongoing challenges related to coordination and synchronisation among institutions. Harmonising standards across government bodies and international platforms takes time, sustained effort, and resources. Still, our strategy is to work systematically with European partners, align step by step, and continue clearing the obstacles along the way.
Next steps and priorities in digital European integration
Ukraine’s and the eGA team’s shared top priority is integrating Ukraine into the Single Digital Gateway (SDG): the EU’s single online portal for accessing public services. This step is essential to ensure that Ukrainian services are visible and accessible to Europeans, and that Ukrainian citizens can fully benefit from the opportunities available across EU countries.
Imagine, for example, a Belgian citizen who wants to study in Ukraine or use a Ukrainian public service. Through the SDG, they would simply open the Ukraine section of the portal and choose from a list of available services. For the user, it’s just a few clicks—but behind that simplicity lies a significant amount of preparatory work to make cross-border access seamless, reliable, and compliant.
In parallel, together with the Government of Ukraine, we are modernising the guide of public services development, so that its classification aligns with European standards. The EU uses a clear service structure, categorised, regulated, and standardised, and Ukraine’s portal needs to match these requirements to ensure consistency and interoperability.
We are also advancing along other European integration tracks. In November 2025, the second phase of the EU-supported project DT4UA began, marking Ukraine’s move into a deeper stage of integration with the European digital space.
This work will include building sustained operational cooperation with the European Commission and EU member states; conducting business analysis and launching cross-border services; providing advisory support to Ukraine on implementing key European acts; testing the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet); and updating Diia.Signature, among other priorities.
What’s next?
In December, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine will hold a strategic meeting in Brussels with key European Commission directorates shaping Europe’s digital agenda. The discussions will involve DG DIGIT, responsible for the implementation of digital solutions; DG CONNECT, which oversees digital infrastructure; DG GROW, which leads work related to the SDGs and the Once-Only Technical System (OOTS); and DG ENEST, which supports cooperation with third countries and EU candidate states. Together, these directorates coordinate engagement with Ukraine, share European standards and best practices for digital integration, and serve as essential partners in our joint initiatives.
During the meeting, the eGA team—together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine—will present our shared roadmap for implementing relevant European regulations and highlight progress achieved so far. Beyond reporting, the key objective is to secure Ukraine’s participation in the European Commission’s working and expert groups and to agree on concrete next steps with each directorate. This will strengthen two-way exchange, deepen alignment with EU approaches, and help accelerate the rollout of new digital services in Ukraine.
The article was first published by New Voice of Ukraine, https://nv.ua/ukr/opinion/vstup-do-yes-ekspert-pro-nablizhennya-ukrajini-yevropeyskih-do-cifrovih-standartiv-50563168.html