France and Germany do not support granting Ukraine access to the EU budget and the right to vote at meetings before full-fledged accession to the EU. This was reported on April 20 by the Financial Times, citing sources, informs the portal PromPolitInform.
According to media reports, the largest EU member states rejected the proposal of the European Commission to “facilitate” Ukraine’s accession to the EU with “incomplete membership.”
Instead, Paris and Berlin offered to provide Ukraine with “symbolic” privileges at the stage of preparation for accession, which do not meet the expectations of Kyiv, the newspaper points out.
Germany, according to the FT, insists on the status of an “associate member,” under which Kyiv will participate in meetings of ministers and leaders, but will not have the right to vote and “automatic access” to the general budget of the EU.
France calls this the “status of an integrated state” in which access to the Common Agricultural Policy and European funding should be delayed until the post-accession phase. Paris also advocates a referendum before each new member joins the bloc.
According to media reports, the vast majority of EU members have deep fears that Ukraine’s accelerated accession will disrupt the political dynamics of the bloc and undermine the value of membership.
Two senior European Commission officials told the FT that the final EU proposal to Ukraine would be close to the positions of France and Germany.
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka in a comment to FT said that Kyiv maintains contacts with Paris and Berlin, as well as with other capitals on this issue. According to him, “the situation is developing.”
However, another Ukrainian official said Kyiv feared that any vague concept of membership would be perceived by Ukrainians as a “poor substitute” for genuine membership. However, he stressed that some elements of such “shadow” membership may be useful.
According to media reports, the “facilitated” version of membership may include the EU’s mutual defense provision, which is seen as one of the key advantages for Kyiv.
Ukraine’s accession to the EU
We will remind, earlier the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said that the Ukrainian authorities will do everything to the country was ready to join the European Union by 2027. Kyiv called on Brussels to determine January 1, 2027 as the date of Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
Recently, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said that Ukraine’s accession to the EU in 2027 is impossible. According to her, the membership process depends on two specific things – peace and reform.
The governments of some EU countries do not support active discussion and acceleration of accession of new members, in particular Ukraine. Among these states are France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.
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