Since 2017, the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) Agreement has been in force to strengthen Ukraine's political ties and economic integration with the EU further. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Ukraine applied for EU membership and was granted EU candidate status in June 2022.

Ukraine’s agricultural sector is market-oriented, competitive, and resources-abundant. The total agricultural land amounts to 42.2 million hectares, of which 32 million hectares are arable land. Thus, Ukraine's agricultural area corresponds to 25% of the EU's agricultural area and one-third of the EU's arable land. Also, Ukraine is the world’s third-largest exporter of rapeseed, the seventh-largest exporter of soybeans, and fourth-largest exporter of corn.

The EU agri-food sector has been strongly affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In the early days of the war, energy and fertilizer prices spiked, leading to increased production costs for various agricultural products. Similarly, the prices of agricultural products have risen due to shortages, risks, and uncertainty about Ukraine's potential exports. This has also led to food price inflation for consumers, reducing their purchasing power.

In June 2023, the European Commission decided to open the EU market for imports from Ukraine. The EU agricultural sector was supported by a €330 million exceptional support package to compensate farmers for possible income losses resulting from the market liberalisation. In addition, a €100 million aid package was provided to address market imbalances in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. The agri-food sectors of Ukraine and the EU are very closely linked, and both countries face challenges in adapting to the new situation. The Ukrainian agri-food sector certainly needs support to survive during the war and to recover and rebuild after the war.

The EU market, in turn, will need measures, instruments, and policies to maintain its competitiveness if the war is protracted. In addition, since Ukraine and the EU are such large regions in economic terms, the integration of Ukraine into the EU will bring significant changes – opportunities but also challenges – to the agri-food sector in Ukraine, as well as to the agri-food sectors of the EU Member States and other non-EU countries. It will also likely require adjustments to the EU's Common Agricultural Policy.