Ukraine's 26 million cultivated hectares drive EU debate on Common Agricultural Policy reform before accession (euobserver.com)

• Ukraine has 26 million cultivated hectares, twice France's arable land
• EU farm policy overhaul seen as precondition before accession; past enlargements offer precedent
• War-related export disruption eased via Romanian and Polish rail/sea corridors

"Ukraine holds 32 million hectares of usable agricultural land, 26 million of it cultivated — twice France's arable area and three times Spain's or Poland's. Its prospective EU accession would make it the bloc's leading cereal and oilseed producer, raising pressure to reform the Common Agricultural Policy before enlargement. Moldova, with 1.87 million hectares, follows a parallel path. Experts say Ukraine's Soviet-era land ownership model does not fit the CAP framework, and past enlargements required prior policy overhauls. War damage, including mined fields and disrupted Black Sea exports, has been partly offset by new rail and sea routes via Romania and Poland."