EU accession with restrictions for farmers: Brussels prepares special terms for Ukraine

The European Commission is proposing significant restrictions on Ukraine's access to the EU agricultural market and farming subsidies even after the country becomes a member of the union.

Source: Financial Times, whose journalists have seen an internal European Commission document on reforming the EU enlargement process

Details: The restrictions are intended to reassure existing EU members, including Poland, France and Italy, which are concerned about competition from large volumes of Ukrainian grain and oilseed products.

The document cites the scale, structure and high productivity of Ukraine's agricultural sector as grounds for considering special arrangements that would significantly restrict financial support and market access, including for wheat and other grains. The EU provides a total of €55 billion in agricultural subsidies annually.

Instead, Brussels is proposing to help Ukraine return to its traditional export markets, where trade has been disrupted by Russia's war.

The proposals are still in draft form and have not been adopted. The FT reports that senior European Commission officials are discussing them ahead of their planned approval on Tuesday.

The reform would also make new member states' access to EU funds conditional on implementing reforms and simplify the procedure for stripping countries of their voting rights for violating the bloc's rules.

Separate accession roadmaps without fixed membership dates are proposed for Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro and Albania.

Background: In April 2026, Taras Kachka, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, said Ukraine was prepared to postpone receiving EU agricultural subsidies for several years in order to accelerate its accession. He said the terms of such a delay would need to be negotiated.

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