The EU is quietly working on scenarios for Ukraine’s integration with the bloc.
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Brussels does not want to loudly promote this topic now due to loud protests by farmers and elections to the European Parliament, which will be held in June this year, Politico writes.
Now European leaders are making concessions to calm angry farmers. For example, on March 18, EU countries agreed to introduce restrictions on the sale of Ukrainian agricultural products, which will deal a significant blow to their exports. At a meeting of 27 government envoys, France spoke in support of Poland, asking to limit imports of Ukrainian poultry, eggs, sugar and wheat.
Asked why they relented, officials said their leaders feared the farmer protests could fuel new populist parties such as the BBB in the Netherlands. Talk of enlarging the bloc is also being kept to a minimum three months before EU elections.
Nevertheless, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is running for a second term, promised to prepare the bloc for a meeting with Ukraine. In her State of the EU speech last September, von der Leyen said the issue must be resolved “today if we are to be ready for tomorrow”, adding that “the time has come for Europe to think big again and write our . your destiny.”
Ukraine, upon becoming a member of the EU, will have one of the lowest GDPs. This will put a huge strain on the bloc’s cohesion policies – funding that flows from richer to poorer regions. Ukraine’s integration into the bloc could mean that the country will receive about 186 billion euros in EU funds over seven years. Future enlargement will mean that all current EU countries will “pay more and receive less.”
The European Commission was supposed to publish a communication on the reform before enlargement at the end of February, which did not happen. Several countries asked the Commission to focus less on financial implications and future institutional reforms. The message is now due to be published tomorrow – a day after European affairs ministers were due to discuss it.
At the end of June, European leaders will sign the so-called strategic agenda for the next term of the European Commission and, in particular, intra-European reform. Poland, which will take over the rotating presidency of the EU Council in 2025, is expected to begin laying the groundwork for enlargement.
Source: Racurs
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