Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukraine’s agriculture minister on Wednesday said his country would not agree to EU membership if that would entail permanent restrictions on farm subsidies and exports of agricultural products. The response comes a day after the European Commission proposed a special arrangement that would limit financial support and restrict exports, such as wheat, from Ukraine.
“Transitional periods are a normal part of EU enlargement… Permanent restrictions on access to the single market are an entirely different matter,” Taras Vysotsky said in a statement to AFP. “Ukraine cannot agree to such an approach.” The government in Kyiv had not yet received any official proposal, which is due to be discussed by EU leaders at a summit next week, he added.
The proposal was aimed at alleviating worries of current EU member states, some of which fear newcomers would backslide on democracy or hoover up too many key resources. Ukraine, which is a major exporter of corn, wheat, colza, sunflower seeds, and vegetable oil, submitted its EU membership bid days after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. It was granted official candidate status a few months later, with accession negotiations kicking off in 2024.
But the prospect of the agricultural powerhouse joining one day has sparked fears in countries such as France and Poland that it would sap the EU’s vast programme of farm subsidies and flood the market with cheaper produce. Vysotsky said Ukrainians “understand the sensitivity of certain segments for European farmers” and were open to “substantive discussions about adaptation periods, the scale of market access, and safeguard mechanisms.”
But he rejected permanent restrictions, which he said “would contradict the very logic of full membership in the European Union.”
© 2024 AFP
