Le Pen opposes Ukraine's EU accession citing threat to French farmers

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has stated that French agriculture would suffer from Ukraine's accession to the EU.

According to her, if Ukraine were to join the European Union, France would be the first to suffer.

This, Le Pen asserts, is due to two reasons.

"We would face not only strong unfair competition, but the share of the Common Agricultural Policy budget allocated to French agriculture would also be significantly reduced", – she explained.

It is worth noting that Marine Le Pen has previously opposed Ukraine's accession to the European Union. In March 2025, in an interview with Le Parisien, she described Ukraine's EU membership as a "red line" for her party "National Rally".

Then Le Pen stated that Ukraine's joining the European Union would mean "the death of French agriculture" due to competition from Ukrainian products, which, in her opinion, are produced under different regulatory and financial conditions. At the same time, the politician emphasized that her party supports Ukraine's territorial integrity, but opposes its EU membership.

Le Pen's new statement comes amid the European Commission's preparation of special conditions for the integration of the Ukrainian agricultural sector. On October 6, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos announced that special mechanisms may be envisaged for Ukraine regarding certain sensitive types of agricultural products. According to her, this is necessary to ensure that Ukraine's accession does not create negative consequences for European farmers. Specific conditions are still being discussed with Kyiv.

The Ukrainian government has opposed the introduction of permanent restrictions on agricultural exports after EU accession. Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky stated that Ukraine is ready to discuss transition periods, temporary quotas, and safeguard measures for certain goods, but such restrictions must have a clear end date.

On October 7, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Vsevolod Chentsov confirmed that Ukraine expects full integration of its agricultural sector into the EU single market. According to him, any transitional mechanisms must be justified, proportionate, and time-limited, and their parameters should be determined during accession negotiations.

Sources: "European Pravda", Le Parisien, Ukrinform