Brussels is preparing special safeguards for agriculture in the context of Ukraine's accession to the EU

The lack of consent from the European Commission to increase Ukrainian quotas, as reported by an RMF FM journalist, was already a signal that Brussels was preparing special safeguards for EU agriculture in the event of Ukraine's accession to the EU.

This includes limiting access of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU market and to EU subsidies.

As diplomats remind us, in the case of Poland, the period of reaching the full level of EU direct payments lasted ten years - from joining the EU in 2004 to achieving the full level in 2013. Therefore, it can be expected that a similarly long transition period will be applied in the case of Ukraine. Its duration will be one of the main elements of the negotiations between the EU and Kiev.

At the same time, the Commission wants to help Ukraine regain traditional export markets outside the EU.

Brussels also wants to make the financial benefits of membership more dependent on the implementation of reforms. Brussels will propose solutions that are intended to limit the new state's ability to block decisions requiring unanimity. It is also about making it easier to suspend the voting rights of a country that violates the rule of law.

This is a response to the weakness of the current Article 7, which was not effectively applied to Poland under PiS and Hungary under Viktor Orban, among other things, because both countries supported each other politically.

When asked about such conditional membership, the Prime Minister of Moldova, Alexandru Munteanu, on the one hand, spoke very clearly about Chisinau's goal: full membership in the European Union. On the other hand, he stressed that Moldova recognizes the right of member states to create a new enlargement architecture.

Ukraine and Moldova's negotiations are accelerating. Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said that next week both countries will open two more areas (so-called clusters) for negotiations. This is about the "Internal Market" and "Competitiveness".

According to an EU diplomat interviewed by RMF FM, the matter should be approved by EU ambassadors on Wednesday, and then, after the Council of Ministers for European Affairs, intergovernmental conferences will be held.

Ukraine and Moldova already have open sections on fundamental rights and foreign and security policy. The most difficult ones still to be opened - from the point of view of Polish interests - are agriculture and transport.

A Polish diplomat told RMF FM that the Commission's document will be approximately 200 pages long and will require a very thorough analysis.

He said that if the information is confirmed, "Brussels is meeting Polish demands for strong protective mechanisms in the most sensitive sectors, including agriculture and transport."

The RMF FM interlocutor in Warsaw also positively assessed the lack of "shortcuts" to membership and the stronger connection of the accession process with real reforms.