Ukraine Successfully passes EU screening for compliance of legislation with norms of free movement of goods

Ukraine has successfully completed the official screening of compliance of legislation with the norms of the European Union within the negotiation chapter "Free Movement of Goods".

According to the Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Vitaliy Kindrativ, the free movement of goods is one of the key freedoms of the EU single market, which allows eliminating technical barriers to trade between member states. During the screening, Ukraine presented over 44 presentations to the European Commission regarding 59 EU legislative acts regulating industrial products. The European side, according to the official, highly appreciated the country's progress in harmonizing norms and fulfilling obligations under the Association Agreement.

Thus, in the future, the implementation of this chapter will allow exporting Ukrainian products to the EU market. By becoming a member of the EU, Ukraine will become an integral part of the single market, where all member states apply the same rules. In this regard, a higher level of quality will be ensured not only for foreign goods that will be placed on the domestic market, but also for Ukrainian goods.

In fact, it is now extremely important for the Ukrainian authorities and participants in the Ukrainian agricultural market to form a unified negotiating position from the industry and to make the export process continuous, even after the possible termination of the autonomous trade measures (ATM) regime with the countries of the European Union. As noted by the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Vitaliy Koval, during a meeting of the Ministry's leadership with representatives of associations, unions, and organizations of Ukraine, the current ATM regime expires on June 5, 2025. If there is no new agreement by this time, Ukraine will return to the tariff quotas and duties that were in effect before 2022. This will mean significant losses for agricultural exporters, which could reach $3.5 billion, and a serious blow to the economy as a whole. He also reminded that the agricultural sector is critical to the Ukrainian economy. In 2024, it provided 15.7% of GDP and 59.3% of foreign exchange earnings from exports.

It should be added that the European Union may grant Ukraine privileged access to the Union's single market as part of a final peace agreement, which should help restore Ukraine's war-torn economy. According to The Telegraph, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is ready to push the EU to grant Ukraine privileged access to the bloc's single market of 449 million consumers as part of a final peace agreement. According to the preliminary plan, Brussels will choose which sectors to open to Kyiv and which not to grant access to. In particular, the main focus is on the Ukrainian defense industry, which is actively developing and provides 55% of weapons for its own army.

It is noted that duty-free access to Ukrainian weapons will bring profits to Kyiv, while EU countries will increase their own military arsenals. Opening the EU market to Ukraine may also accelerate European integration.

It is recalled that after the start of the full-scale war, the EU introduced a "customs visa-free regime" for Ukrainian agricultural exports, but did not even consider expanding agricultural subsidies to Ukraine. EU officials insisted that decisions on promoting Ukraine to full membership would be based entirely on the country's merits, including aligning legislation with EU requirements and other necessary reforms.