The Impact of Deeper Integration of the Ukrainian Agri-Food Sector into European Food Markets

The 189th Seminar of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE) was entitled ‘EU enlargement by (post-)war Ukraine: Implications for the Agri-Food Market’. This seminar was organized by the Thünen Institute, the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, the Poznan University of Life Sciences and the Kyiv School of Economics.

In over 30 presentations and panel discussions, it became evident that the integration is a lengthy and complex process, offering numerous opportunities and challenges along the way. The Ukraine, currently at a full-scale war with Russia, possesses a huge potential with more than 30 million hectares of agricultural land, which offers significant potential for enhancing food security within and beyond the European Union.

At the seminar, however, it became evident that numerous obstacles and challenges remain on the path to Ukraine's complete integration into the EU. This encompasses not only the requisite adaptations by Ukraine in aligning with the complex EU regulatory framework but also the necessity for the EU itself to become more accommodating towards Ukraine's prospective membership. The current EU appears to be lacking in preparedness for Ukraine's integration, particularly in the domain of the common agricultural policy, necessitating the implementation of further reforms.