Germany and France are advocating that Ukraine receive only "symbolic" benefits in the phase before joining the European Union, without access to agricultural subsidies and without voting rights, which significantly reduces Kiev's hopes for a privileged status after a possible peace agreement with Russia, the Financial Times reported, which had access to separate documents from the two countries.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has sought EU membership as a key benefit of any peace deal, arguing that his country could join the bloc as early as 2027. However, the EU's largest members have opposed proposals by the European Commission to fundamentally overhaul the slow and bureaucratic accession process to give Kiev quick access to certain benefits, the FT reports.
According to the newspaper, Germany is advocating for "associate membership" status, which would allow Ukraine to participate in meetings of EU ministers and leaders, but without decision-making rights and without automatic access to the Union's common budget.
France calls such partial membership "integrated state status," under which access to "the Common Agricultural Policy and European funding, such as cohesion policy... should be postponed to a post-accession phase."
The recent election defeat of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who vetoed the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine, raised some hopes that progress might be made. However, most EU members deeply fear that the accelerated accession of Ukraine and other candidates would disrupt the political dynamics of the Union and diminish the value of membership itself.
Most EU members deeply fear that the accelerated accession of Ukraine and other candidates would disrupt the political dynamics of the Union and diminish the value of membership itself, writes the Financial Times.
Two senior Commission officials told the FT that the basic thrust of the documents would "probably" be close to the EU's final proposal to Kiev.
Taras Kachka, Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European integration, said that they are in contact with Paris and Berlin, as well as other capitals, and that everything is still in the development phase, as if there were other documents.
But another Ukrainian official said Kiev was wary of any watered-down membership concept, which could be seen by its war-weary population as a poor substitute for full membership, although it acknowledged that some elements of it could be useful. "We call it 'shadow membership,'" the official said.
A third Ukrainian official said: "These people... need to understand that they need Ukraine too. If they want real security, they need to make a fair offer."
The Franco-German proposals come after an almost universal rejection of the concept of "reverse enlargement" proposed by the European Commission, which would allow Ukraine full membership without meeting all EU criteria, with gradual acquisition of financial and other benefits to subsequently meet those conditions in various policy areas.
The essential difference between the Commission's idea and the concepts of Paris and Berlin, according to the FT, concerns when Ukraine could call itself an EU member and gain voting rights in the Union's decision-making bodies.
The German proposal states that the new status would have "symbolic power through the name itself" and could be granted by a political decision of EU leaders, bypassing "lengthy procedures".
"In addition to its symbolic value, this new level of gradual integration would allow for visible progress for the citizens of the candidate countries concerned," the French document states.
France requires a referendum before any new member is admitted to the EU. Some leaders are wary of opening such a debate ahead of next year's French presidential election, fearing that far-right candidates could further fuel the concerns of French farmers.
Significant EU subsidies for agriculture under the Common Agricultural Policy, as well as regional funds - which together account for around two-thirds of the current EU budget - would be "postponed for the post-accession phase", Paris said.
A lighter version of membership, however, would include an EU mutual defense clause, seen as a key benefit for Kiev, given that NATO membership is not on the table for the foreseeable future. Such a clause “could become de facto applicable by a mere political declaration,” the German document said. However, the documents say there would be “no automatic application of the budget,” but countries like Ukraine would be gradually included in EU funding programs “in line with the progress of negotiations and with transition rules.”
As countries progress towards membership - a lengthy process that requires candidates to reform and integrate the acquis communautaire that makes up the bloc's legal blueprint - they would be granted "improved access to EU funding programmes", the French said, citing the Erasmus+ student exchange programme and public-private partnerships in the field of digital investment.
Crucially, both countries stress that this "lighter" version is not an alternative to full membership, but "an essential and easily implemented shortcut to it", in Berlin's words, which would "play the role of an accelerator towards that goal", as Paris put it.
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