Ukrainian women will also have to confirm their exemption from mobilization for temporary protection in the EU

The European Union is preparing the largest changes to the rules of temporary protection for Ukrainian citizens since 2022. According to preliminary data, new applicants will have to confirm that they are not subject to mobilization in Ukraine in order to obtain this status. This requirement will apply not only to men but also to women. The Polish publication «Rzeczpospolita» reports on this.

Temporary protection in the EU: what new requirements may be introduced

According to the publication, the European Commission plans to present changes to the Directive on temporary protection for Ukrainians as early as July. One of the main innovations will be the requirement to provide special confirmation from the Ukrainian authorities that the individual is not subject to mobilization.

The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Poland, Maciej Duszczyk, stated that work on the new rules is already nearing completion, and Poland supports these changes.

At the same time, he clarified that these new provisions will apply only to those Ukrainian citizens who will apply for temporary protection after the new rules come into force. For Ukrainians who already have the relevant status in EU countries, the conditions will not change.

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Ukrainians in the EU: who will be affected by the new rules

According to «Rzeczpospolita», the initiative to review the rules came from Ukraine itself, which approached the European Union with a request to limit the ability to obtain temporary protection under previous conditions for new applicants.

The new requirements will apply to both men and women. This is because the document will confirm not the gender of the applicant but their status regarding mobilization according to Ukrainian legislation.

According to Eurostat, currently, about 4.3 million Ukrainian citizens are using temporary protection in EU countries. The largest number of Ukrainians is in Germany – over 1.2 million people, and in Poland – around 960,000.

It is expected that the new version of the directive will be adopted in July 2026; however, it will only come into effect in March 2027 after the current temporary protection mechanism expires.

It is worth noting that Polish workers are among the most loaded in the European Union. In 2025, the average duration of the workweek in the country was 38 hours, significantly exceeding the average figure for the EU.