Financial Times: After joining the EU, Ukraine will be entitled to €186 billion over seven years

After joining the European Union, Ukraine will be entitled to receive almost €186 billion over seven years. This is stated in the "Financial Times" (FT) article with reference to the internal assessment of the general budget of the European Union.

The estimate is the first modeling of the budget for the potential accession of nine new member states (these are Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and six Western Balkan states). The cost of adding all nine members to the existing budget would be €256.8 billion.

"All member countries will have to pay more and receive less from the EU budget; many member states that are net recipients will become net donors," the EU Council secretariat document said.

According to the newspaperʼs estimates, with the arrival of nine new member states, the current budget will increase by 21%, to €1.47 trillion.

Thus, Ukraine will have the right to receive €96.5 billion within the framework of the EUʼs Common Agricultural Policy for seven years. This will reduce agricultural subsidies to current EU member states by approximately 20%.

Ukraine will also be eligible for €61 billion from EU cohesion funds, which are aimed at improving infrastructure in the poorest member states. The study estimates that with nine additional member states, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta will no longer be eligible for funding from these funds.

Ukraine will become the largest recipient of aid from the bloc with 41.1 million hectares of agricultural land, pushing France into second place. This will mean that payments to existing recipients will be reduced by 20.3% per hectare of eligible agricultural land.

The accession of nine countries will cause a number of "far-reaching" adjustments, including a possible significant increase in net budgetary contributions from richer countries such as Germany, France and the Netherlands. The document predicts that "transitional periods and safeguards" will be needed.

• On June 23, Ukraine officially became a candidate for membership of the European Union. The European Commission has approved certain conditions that Ukraine must fulfill in order to start official accession negotiations. The candidate status gives Ukraine access to special financial funds of the European Union, at the expense of which reforms in countries are financed so that they meet the criteria necessary for full membership in the EU.