Why European integration is a chance to modernise Ukraine's farming
There are concerns in Ukraine that stricter EU requirements for the agricultural sector will increase costs, complicate production and potentially lead to the loss of some traditional markets outside the European Union.
Without a doubt, adapting to EU rules will require investments, new control procedures, the restructuring of some production facilities and transitional solutions for agri-food producers.
Read more about how European standards could help Ukraine’s agricultural sector in the column by Dmytro Naumenko of the Ukrainian Center for European Policy NGO: On the path to EU, Ukraine must reshape Its agricultural export model.
The author points out that although Ukraine's farming already includes a significant share of processed goods, the country still mainly exports raw commodities.
He reminds readers that EU countries profit not so much from raw materials or exchange-traded goods as from more deeply processed – and therefore more expensive – products.
"This is a completely different export profile. Such a model is less focused on raw commodity exports and more on selling products with higher added value," Dmytro Naumenko writes.
According to him, the largest non-EU markets for European agricultural exports are the United Kingdom, United States, Switzerland, China, Japan and Norway.
"These are markets where not only price and volume matter, but also traceability and quality control throughout the supply chain, food safety requirements and trust in the control system. This is exactly what Ukraine must achieve by adopting EU rules in the agricultural sector," the expert from the Ukrainian Center for European Policy notes.
Therefore, in his view, the full implementation of EU standards should be seen not as a concession to Brussels or a threat to Ukraine’s agricultural sector, but as an investment in access to the same solvent markets where the EU is already earning profits.
The goal, he argues, should be to export processed goods with higher added value.
Naumenko acknowledges that under current conditions, it is unrealistic for Ukraine to instantly transition to the production, regulatory, and export model typical of EU member states due to the war, limited investment opportunities and the scale of the required adaptation.
However, the author stresses that the end result should not be the preservation of a raw-material export model, but rather sector modernisation, the development of processing industries and the creation of new jobs.
The experience of Central European countries shows that such a transformation is entirely realistic. For example, Poland increased the value of its agri-food exports more than elevenfold during its 20 years of EU membership.
"To achieve this, Ukraine needs a well-thought-out transition strategy. Above all, it requires an honest and detailed assessment of the impact of European integration on individual subsectors of Ukrainian agriculture," Dmytro Naumenko writes.
He explains that this would make it possible to determine a realistic sequence for adaptation, define timeframes and identify possible financial support instruments for modernising production capable of moving into more sophisticated and higher-value export segments.
According to the expert from the Ukrainian Center for European Policy, if the transition is managed properly, European standards could become the foundation for securing Ukrainian producers’ position on the EU market and gradually increasing the share of agri-food products with a higher level of processing.