International Relations
Interview
Florence Gaub on Navigating a Renewed Conflict in the Middle East – INTERVIEW
3 October 2024
24 September 2024
Ukraine’s EU accession brings challenges and opportunities, particularly in agriculture, structural funds, energy, and market access. While concerns exist over its impact on the EU budget, Ukraine’s membership could drive reforms and foster long-term economic, environmental, and security cooperation.
During the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) meeting, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on the European Union to start preparing for Ukraine’s eventual membership, urging a forward-looking approach that includes Ukraine in the next EU budget cycle. As formal membership negotiations are set to begin under Poland’s EU Council Presidency in 2025, EU leaders are grappling with the economic, agricultural, and energy-related impacts of Ukraine’s accession.
While Ukraine works to align itself with EU standards by preparing its negotiation teams and screening for compliance with the EU’s ‘Fundamentals’ cluster, unofficial negotiations on energy began even before the process formally launched.
Despite these preparations, Ukraine faces the monumental task of securing consent from every EU member state to open each negotiating chapter, a challenge given the range of concerns around the impact of Ukraine’s membership on budgets, structural funds, and market access.