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At its July plenary session, the EESC adopted an opinion highlighting the complexities and strategic considerations surrounding the EU’s forthcoming enlargement, emphasising preparedness, sustainability, and balanced support for agricultural and rural sectors across both current and candidate Member States.
In addition to geopolitical considerations, this enlargement presents opportunities to better secure the EU’s strategic autonomy and further reduce the environmental footprint of the agricultural sector. However, past enlargements of the EU have produced mixed outcomes in this sector. While new Member States have significantly contributed to the EU's agricultural diversity and production value, weaker rural areas and smaller farms have not reaped equal benefits. The EESC calls for a balanced approach in order to adequately support family farms and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the agri-food sector.
The enlargement will expand the EU’s agricultural area by one third, while Ukraine’s accession alone would increase it by one quarter, enhancing strategic autonomy, and will offer trade opportunities to the 60 million people of the current candidate countries, not only with respect to technologies and know-how, but also when it comes to agriculture. However, this must be balanced with continued support for EU farmers, budgetary constraints, and the repercussions of the Ukraine conflict. The CAP budget will need to increase to support these goals, with new financial instruments tailored to specific needs.
Recognising the varied preparedness levels among candidate countries, the EESC recommends an approach based on gradual integration, to prevent adverse effects from competition. Dedicated budgets should support the most impacted agri-food subsectors, particularly SMEs, ensuring fair and targeted assistance.
July 18, 2024/ European Economic
and Social Committee/ European Union.
https://www.eesc.europa.eu
