France and Germany plan to grant Ukraine "symbolic" EU membership benefits - media
Kyiv • UNN
Paris and Berlin rejected Ukraine's rapid accession to the EU due to bureaucracy. The proposed status excludes voting rights and access to the bloc's common budget.
France and Germany plan to grant Ukraine "symbolic" benefits during the pre-accession phase to the European Union, which exclude Kyiv's access to the bloc's budget and voting rights. This is stated in documents with proposals from the two countries, which were reviewed by the Financial Financial Times, writes UNN.
Details
It is noted that Paris and Berlin rejected the European Commission's proposals to abolish the slow and bureaucratic accession process in order to provide Kyiv with quick membership benefits.
Germany insists on the status of an "associated member", under which Ukraine will participate in meetings of ministers and leaders, but will not have voting rights and automatic access to the common EU budget.
The FRG's proposal also states that the new status will have "symbolic power due to its name." It can be granted by a political decision of EU leaders, which will avoid lengthy procedures.
France calls such partial membership an "integrated state status", under which access to the common agricultural policy and European funding should be postponed until full accession.
The recent electoral defeat of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who vetoed the start of membership negotiations with Ukraine, instilled some hope for progress on the issue. However, most EU members fear that granting Ukraine and other candidates the right to accelerated accession will overturn the bloc's political dynamics and undermine the value of membership.
The general content of the documents from France and Germany is likely to "be close" to the final EU proposal for Ukraine, two high-ranking European Commission officials told the Financial Times.
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Taras Kachka, told the publication that Kyiv continues discussions with EU countries regarding its membership.