France: A long way till Ukraine's admission to the EU
3 Min Read
French Europe Minister Laurence Boone revealed to lawmakers that Ukraine would have to abide by the EU's political and economic standards as a requirement before officially joining the bloc.
-
France's Europe Minister Laurence Boone at the French Foreign Ministry in Paris in July 2022. (AFP)
On Wednesday, French Europe Minister Laurence Boone revealed to lawmakers that Ukraine would have to abide by the EU's political and economic standards as a requirement before officially joining the bloc.
In a briefing with French MPs, Boone shared updates concerning last week's talks with Kiev about its accession to the EU. At the same time, Moldova was revealed to have been approved for accession talks.
Boone took to social media to reiterate France's stance, saying that memberships are given to states after they improve in several areas, such as media freedom, amendments to the law, and anti-corruption.
“We do not want these places to be sources of instability at the borders of the European Union,” she said.
À l’@AssembleeNat, j’ai rappelé que l’#élargissement de l’Union européenne à l’Ukraine, la Moldavie et la Géorgie ne pourra se faire sans le respect de nos standards, démocratiques comme économiques👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/znbmhWpZv1
— Laurence Boone (@LaurenceBoone) December 21, 2023
Boone also noted that the accession process will be lengthy and prone to being vetoed by any member at any time.
EU agriculture at risk
Candidates, whoever they are, might be required to make agricultural, social, and economic changes, as a means to merge with overall EU policy and to eradicate competition between EU member states by creating a "level playing field".
In terms of agriculture, worries have been shared by Eastern European countries, namely Poland. Last week, Polish Deputy Agriculture Minister Michal Kolodziejczak said that Ukraine's entry into the European Union could subvert food security in the bloc, laying off European farmers and causing an agricultural ordeal.
"Ukrainian agriculture is capable of destabilizing food security in any country of the European Union. If we want this, we can immediately open the doors and say, 'We are closing our agricultural enterprises because their work will not make sense," Kolodziejczak told Polish broadcaster RMF FM. He added that Ukrainian agriculture, which had been monopolized by 95 holdings ranging from land to railroad, would be chosen to dominate Polish produce.
"We must respect our interests, as, for example, Germany did when Poland joined the European Union. At the time, the labor market for Poles was frozen for eight years. Today, we could say that agricultural products from Ukraine – fresh and processed – should not enter Poland, for example, 20 years after Ukraine joins the EU," the official added.
Read more: Poland halts weapons to Ukraine amid grain dispute: PM
Hungary at odds with Ukraine
On Wednesday, in an interview, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban estimated that Ukraine's admission will cost the EU up to 190 billion euros, meaning that "all the aid that was given to the countries of Central Europe, including Hungary, would be transferred to [Kiev]”.
During last week's accession talks, Hungary, rejected Ukraine's early admission into the EU, claiming it was not ready enough, but did not actively veto the possibility. Orban also walked out from the meeting, declaring that if Ukraine was to be admitted, Hungary would not have anything to do with it.
Read more: Ukraine sold its sovereignty for Western money, weapons, Orban says
