Up to 40% of the volume of implementation of EU legislation falls on the fate of the agricultural sector of Ukraine

The Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Markiyan Dmytrasevich, emphasized that agriculture accounts for approximately 35-40% of the mass of EU legislation that needs to be implemented by Ukraine.

As the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reports, the government official expressed confidence that Ukraine, with a powerful agricultural sector as a guarantor of European and global food security, should join the family of European countries with dignity.

He also outlined the European integration priorities in the work of the Ministry and the Government.

"Among the main priorities, first of all, we are talking about obligations under the Association Agreement - we will continue to pursue them. Secondly, we received a certain assessment of the progress of European integration from the EU itself, which is a reference point for us. Thirdly, we are launching a self-screening of the state of European integration in the context not only of the Association Agreement, but in the principle of implementation of all EU legislation. After that, Ukraine will form negotiating and working groups to enter into the process of negotiations with European partners," said Markiyan Dmytrasevich.

The procedure of the negotiations, which should start in the second half of the current year, will be as follows: the dialogue will start with the fundamental cluster, which concerns the rule of law. Later, the parties will gradually move to other clusters. In particular, the issues of agriculture and the development of rural areas will be discussed in the fifth cluster.

"In order to form our positions in the negotiations with the European Union, we will need extensive consultations with our agricultural sector. Of course, we will work with associations," summed up Markiyan Dmytrasevich.

It is worth noting that the Ukrainian side understands how much the European Union pays attention to the mentioned industry. After all, despite the war, Ukraine increased its exports to the EU last year to $27.9 billion. This was achieved thanks to the liberalization of trade, in particular, the abolition of quotas and duties, and the abolition of car permits for the period of martial law. The relevant information was distributed in the press service of the Ministry of Economy with reference to the first vice-prime minister — the Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliya Svyridenko.

"All the steps introduced by the European Union to liberalize trade with Ukraine made it possible to orient most of the trade to the EU market. According to the results of 2022, 55% of mutual trade turnover fell on European countries. We will continue to work to ensure that the EU continues the regulations that allow Ukraine to trade without quotas and tariffs. Considering the conditions in which Ukrainian business operates, this would be a very significant support for Ukraine on the economic front," the Ministry cites the head's statement.

She also noted that this is an intermediate stage between the Free Trade Agreement and full membership in the EU. First of all, it is about equal rights of Ukraine with other EU member states in all spheres — movement of goods (Agreement on access of Ukrainian goods to the EU market), telecommunications, energy, customs and food safety, etc.

"By the end of the year, Ukraine plans to sign the Agreement on Access of Ukrainian Goods to the EU Market (ACAA). This means that all industrial production will work according to EU rules, which means that it will be profitable for European business to locate production for the EU market on the territory of Ukraine," the Ministry's message says.

At the same time, Ukraine is counting on significant progress in integration into the internal market of the European Union and on the extension of duty-free trade with the EU until the end of 2024. These issues were discussed during the meeting between the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal and the Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko with the Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis. During the meeting, the Head of Government emphasized that integration into the EU internal market and further deepening of trade relations is vital for Ukraine's ability to resist Russian aggression.

In turn, during a joint meeting of the Government of Ukraine and the European Commission, First Vice Prime Minister — Minister of Economy Yuliya Svyridenko stressed the need to adapt legislation that will ensure economic convergence of Ukraine and the EU while accession negotiations are underway.

"We have a plan to end the saga with the industrial visa-free regime and conclude the Agreement on access of Ukrainian goods to the EU market. Unfortunately, the war has slowed down the rate of assessment missions a bit, but they will be done and the deal will be done. The mechanism of work on the AAAA agreement is a model for other areas where Ukraine intends to integrate into the EU internal market. And the depth of the assessment of compliance with the legislation fully meets the requirements of negotiations on joining the EU," Yuliya Svyridenko commented on the course of bilateral negotiations.

The Minister of Economy noted that the EU is the main trading partner of Ukraine today. This happened thanks to the EU's decision to apply autonomous trade measures in the form of the abolition of all customs duties, the agreement on road transport, and the effective implementation of logistical solidarity routes. It is important for Ukraine to maintain duty-free import of our goods to the European Union until the end of 2024.

We should add that currently, in order to increase the efficiency of trade, the Ministry of Economy and DG Trade agreed on an updated Priority Plan of measures to strengthen the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement. The main focus of this plan is Ukraine's integration into the EU internal market.

The plan envisages 29 measures to complete existing projects, such as AAAA, and begin work on integration into the internal market in all relevant areas, including updating the necessary annexes to the agreement, monitoring compliance with legislation and approving decisions on market opening.

By the way, as a result of the negotiations, the parties signed an agreement on Ukraine's participation in the EU program "Single Market" with a budget of 4.2 billion euros. The program is aimed at ensuring "green" and digital transitions and will contribute to the development of the competitiveness of Ukrainian business. Ukraine and the EU also launched a strategic partnership in the field of renewable gases, which will contribute to the construction of a sustainable and innovative energy system of Ukraine. Denis Shmyhal and Ursula von der Leyen signed the corresponding Memorandum of Understanding.