Ukraine’s accession to the EU would have unforeseeable consequences for agriculture

(Photo: AM)

At the meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture in Brussels on December 11, 2023, at Poland’s request, the impact of Ukraine’s accession on EU agriculture was also on the agenda. Minister of Agriculture István Nagy emphasized that the farmers of the bordering member states are already feeling these effects firsthand, since, from an agricultural point of view, Ukraine has been part of the internal market for practically one and a half years due to the dismantling of trade barriers. The bordering member states could not count on the European Commission to deal with the market disruptions caused by increased Ukrainian imports, and it shows complete incompetence that the EU import ban was lifted right in the middle of the harvest. In response to this, the Commission is threatening Hungary, Poland and Slovakia with infringement proceedings due to the measures introduced under national competence. It is not enough that the committee does not help the bordering member states, but it even hinders them, even though the ban protects the entire internal market – reminded the head of the ministry.

He explained that before Ukraine’s accession is even discussed, it is necessary to see what effect it will have on European agriculture and agricultural subsidies

We cannot go without saying that there are large farms in Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of hectares, which do not have to meet the strict production conditions in the EU at all. European agriculture, based on completely different historical traditions and operating in a different structure, cannot compete with this. István Nagy also drew attention to the fact that the Commission did not prepare an analysis of the expected effects of Ukraine’s accession on agriculture, but according to conservative estimates, almost 30% of the CAP subsidies would go to Ukrainian farms. The logical consequence of this is that subsidies from other member states, including Hungarian farmers, would be significantly reduced. Nor can we ignore the fact that Ukrainian agricultural companies are largely owned by Western big capital, so they would also benefit from EU subsidies. This cannot be the goal of either the member states or the European Commission – added István Nagy, who stated that the interests of Hungarian farmers will be protected by all means.

AM