Brussels Urges Ukraine’s Entry into the Common Market

At its plenary session next week, the European Parliament will debate a seemingly technical issue, one that, in reality, carries serious political implications. The initiative aims to allow Ukraine access to the EU’s common market before its formal accession. The plan, if realized, would harm the Hungarian people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Photo: AFP)

To join, every candidate country must meet strict legal, economic, and institutional requirements.

Ukraine, however, has not closed a single chapter of the accession process and is still in the screening phase. Meanwhile, the country remains at war, suffers from high corruption, a weak judiciary, and incomplete legal harmonization.

Granting Ukraine early market access would not only override the EU’s merit-based enlargement framework, but would also set a dangerous precedent—undermining legal cohesion and the principle of unanimous decision-making among member states.

Hungary Would Be One of the Biggest Losers

If Ukraine was granted access to the single market without full legal and institutional readiness, it would have a severe impact on Hungary’s agriculture, food industry, and light manufacturing sector.

Due to regulatory discrepancies, Ukrainian products could flood the market, putting Hungarian micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in an impossible position.

The Hungarian market would lose its tariff protections, and without proper legal harmonization, fair competition could not be guaranteed.

Significant labor market tensions could also emerge. Early extension of free movement of persons could trigger a new wave of migration, pushing down wages—particularly in sectors requiring low-skilled labor.

Ukraine Fails to Meet EU Standards

Ukraine does not meet EU norms in several key areas, including food safety, environmental protection, and animal welfare regulations. The use of pesticides banned in the EU and the neglect of animal welfare requirements could pose serious health risks to Hungarian consumers.

In addition, the duty-free influx of Ukrainian goods would result in lost revenue for Hungary’s state budget and present cheap competition to Hungarian businesses.

Brussels Seeks to Bypass Unanimous Decision-Making

Although the European Parliament’s political resolution is non-binding, it provides an opening for the European Commission to grant Ukraine full access to certain EU programs—such as Horizon Europe or Digital Europe—even without unanimous approval from member states. Since the rules governing these programs are often amended by qualified majority, the veto power of member states can be circumvented. According to Bernadett Petri, head of the Europe Strategy Research Institute at the University of Public Service (NKE), this is yet another step toward undermining unanimity among member states.

The European Union should learn from its past mistakes. Pushing through EU measures at the expense of member state consensus is fracturing the Union’s decision-making process and is bound to shatter European cooperation,

– she said.

Cover photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Photo: AFP)