The European Parliament has prepared a new “compromise” on trade with Ukraine
27 March 2024 10:56
Today, 27 March, EU ambassadors will once again try to approve the extension of the duty-free trade agreement with Ukraine. This will be the third meeting of representatives of the 27 EU member states after a compromise was agreed with the European Parliament a week ago, which was then rejected due to the opposition of a group of countries led by Poland and France. It is about tightening restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, Komersant ukrainskyi 
citing RMF24.
Currently, the misunderstandings concern the calculation of quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products, i.e. the establishment of a limit on Ukrainian exports. The current draft decision of the European Parliament stipulates that Ukraine can freely import its goods into the EU if their total volume does not exceed the average for the last two years, when imports were high. Poland and France, with the support of a group of Ukraine’s neighbours, are seeking to include 2021, a period when imports from Ukraine were low. This will reduce the volume of free trade.
That is why the European Parliament is now considering a new “compromise” – to include only the second half of 2021 in the basic calculation period. Such a “compromise” would mean a reduction in the supply of Ukrainian food.
In addition, France and Poland are also still trying to apply quantitative restrictions on Ukrainian wheat, which currently apply to sugar, eggs, poultry, cereals, oats, and honey. France is also seeking to add barley to the list.
The preferential trade regime and its enemies
The decision to allow the free import of Ukrainian goods into the EU was made by the EU at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion as a gesture of support for the Ukrainian economy and in response to the Russian naval blockade of Ukrainian ports. During the two years of its operation, the simplified regime has gained a lot of opponents in the EU. In particular, the governments of Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia are demanding restrictions on imports of Ukrainian products. They claim that cheap agricultural products from Ukraine are flooding their markets.
Six major European farmers’ associations have also strongly protested against Ukrainian products. Polish farmers have even staged a border blockade, not only with Ukraine but also with Germany.
Nevertheless, the European Commission prepared and the European Parliament adopted a decision on 13 March to extend the preferential regime for another year, until 5 June 2025. However, in the current version, the EU took into account all the requirements and made changes not in favour of Ukraine.
According to this decision, the European Commission may apply any measures it deems necessary if there are “significant disturbances” on the EU market or the markets of one or more EU countries due to Ukrainian imports. The agreement also provides for an emergency suspension of imports of particularly sensitive agricultural products. These include poultry, eggs, sugar, honey, oats, corn, and cereals. If the imports of these products exceed the average volumes of 2022-2023, they will be subject to customs tariffs within 14 days. In this way, the EU is effectively returning import quotas for these Ukrainian goods, albeit at a high level. If Poland and France do reach a “compromise” with the EU, these quotas will be even lower.
