Maidan is reporting staunch French opposition to the inclusion of Ukraine to the EU, despite approval by others.

Poland, Germany, and France, with Lithuanian participation, are conducting intensive discussions, having received something more than cooperation within the framework of neighbourhood policy from the European Union.

As reported by ProEuropa, based upon the Polish Gazeta.Pl., “the virtually completed text of the Polish-German-Lithuanian proposal for Ukraine has met opposition from France. Paris prefers that relations with Yushchenko be contained within ‘the borders of the European Union politics of neighbourhood policy and the so-called plan of action,’ developed during Viktor Yanukovych’s office.”

A possible reason for this comes in a comment that Kirk H. Sowell left on one of my posts talking about eastern and western Europe culture clashes the other day:

The only thing I would add to McDuff????????s analysis (which is similar to mine recently posted on this site) is that the Ukraine????????s potential as an agricultural powerhouse is surely a major problem for West European farmers, especially French farmers, one of the EU????????s most powerful interest groups. The presence of Poland has already deprived French farmers of some of their subsidies, and Ukraine would add more direct competition than Poland in terms of production.