The number of economic discussions will increase as Ukraine approaches EU accession, and they will mainly concern agriculture, as 40% of the legislative norms that need to be harmonized relate to the agricultural sector, said Mykola Solsky, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.
“We need to understand that as we get closer to (Ukraine’s) accession to the European Union, the number of economic discussions will increase. We need to develop immunity to them, be smart and pragmatic,” he said on the air of the United News marathon.
The minister also noted that this year Ukraine received a list of legislative norms from the EU that need to be prepared and changed, and 40% of everything that needs to be adapted to join the EU is related to agriculture and food.
Solsky emphasized that in recent months, Ukraine has for the first time faced the need to defend its economic position to neighboring countries. “This is the first but not the last economic discussion,” he added.
The minister also emphasized that the grain dispute with neighboring countries is the first precedent for Ukraine that has caused such an emotional reaction among Ukrainian society and politicians.
“I propose to treat this as if we have taken half a step to the last line before joining the European Union. When we become a member of the European Union, it will always be like that. This is normal according to the rules of the European Union. This is a democratic association (…) This is a process that we will obviously go through many times,” the Minister of Agrarian Policy said.
Answering a question about the possible escalation of emotions around Ukrainian agricultural exports during the EU accession, Solsky said that there will definitely be such discussions, but “we should not be afraid of them, but should immediately prepare, learn something and take into account something.”
According to the minister, the work at the European Commission level over the past six months has shown that this association regularly holds meetings of agricultural ministers, where discussions are constantly taking place.
“Each state has its own farmers, its own processors, its own interests, which it considers national. They sometimes go against the opinion of other members of the European Union. (…) If we want to be a member of the European Union, we need to be ready to defend our interests publicly, sometimes not publicly,” the minister explained.
As reported, during the week, Solsky held telephone talks with the agriculture ministers of Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland to discuss the details of the introduction of stricter controls over the export of Ukrainian wheat, rapeseed, sunflower and corn to these countries after the European Commission lifted restrictive measures. Ukraine is obliged to provide written explanations to the neighboring countries on the implementation of the proposed procedures. Negotiations will continue next week.
