The announcements are made in Wednesday's annual report on the situation in countries negotiating - or seeking to negotiate - for EU membership.
"The significant progress made by some candidates over the past year allows us to turn the promise of enlargement into reality. . . Step by step, we are building a more complete and stronger Union," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen writes in a press release.
The annual report was long expected to contain concrete dates for when the Commission believes some of the countries will be ready to join the EU. However, this has been put off following resistance from current EU member states that do not want to commit themselves in advance.
Ready in a year?
Instead, the four countries that have come the furthest - Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine - will have to make do with "roadmaps" outlining the progress expected in the coming years.
Montenegro is in the lead, having already passed all the EU's "negotiation chapters" on membership requirements this year. This means that the country's more than 600,000 people can still hope for EU membership as early as 1 January 2028.
An accession agreement could be signed as early as June next year, an EU official said at a press briefing in Brussels.
At present, Montenegro is essentially held back only by a number of separate demands from neighboring Croatia regarding investigations and legal proceedings linked to the 1990s war in the former Yugoslavia.
Moldova is ahead
For Albania, the European Commission is talking about concluding negotiations in 2027, for Moldova in "early 2028" and for Ukraine "towards the end of 2028".
The latter is a first indication that Ukraine's and Moldova's negotiation processes will be split after having so far proceeded in parallel. This is unlikely to be met with jubilation in Kyiv, which would like a boost from its neighbor.
On the other hand, the EU is seen as finding it significantly easier to take in four million Moldovans than 40 million Ukrainians - especially while the latter is at war.
Among the other applicant countries, Serbia has suddenly seen a breath of fresh air. It has been negotiating since 2014 but has practically stood still in recent years. However, the victory of the so-called Student List in the recent parliamentary elections opens up a new beginning.
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