2023-11-08 20:40:00
Ukraine’s entry into the EU would be a “catastrophe” for European agriculture, the president of the main French agricultural union (FNSEA), Arnaud Rousseau, reacted on Wednesday in an interview with regional media in France, following the European Commission recommended the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.
Wheat harvest in Zaporozhye (Ukraine) in 2020Photo: Ukrinform / Avalon / Profimedia
“In a context of war, it is very difficult to pronounce on this subject, because you are immediately accused of not supporting Ukraine. But speaking strictly from an agricultural point of view, an entry of Ukraine into the European Union would be a catastrophe for European agriculture”, warned the French union leader, according to the France Presse agency, quoted by Agerpres.
According to him, Ukrainian agriculture “does not play by the same rules”, it produces approximately “the equivalent of a quarter of European agriculture, especially in terms of poultry farming and large crops, but with environmental norms and production standards far below our practices”.
Ukrainian agricultural products already have free access to the EU market, thanks to a facility that the bloc offered to Ukraine to help it in the war with Russia.
However, this facility mainly affected the eastern European countries neighboring Ukraine and less so the western European countries. The latter and Kiev protested once morest the measures that the governments of some Eastern European countries took to protect their farmers who were damaged by Ukrainian grains sold at prices below the costs of local producers.
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