Next Monday, the trade committees of the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers will hold a joint meeting to discuss the proposed relaxation of export rules for Ukraine. A week later, the Agriculture Ministers will meet to discuss the European Commission’s proposal to extend once again the abolition of import tariffs and export quotas on Ukrainian agricultural products, which was introduced two years ago.
Although the European Commission believes that competition from Ukrainian products has not yet had a “negative effect on the entire European market,” some ‘emergency brakes’ will now be put in place for three “sensitive” products (poultry, eggs, and sugar) if imports exceed the average level for the years 2022 and 2023.
Farmers say that Ukrainian products once destined for Africa or the Middle East are now staying in Europe, undermining local producers. They also claim that Ukrainian producers are not subject to the EU’s higher environmental and social standards.
The European Commission is divided on this issue: (Polish) Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski openly advocates limiting Ukrainian agricultural exports to EU countries, but most other EU Commissioners call for ‘continuing solidarity’ with Ukraine’s fight against the Russians.
The announced new farmer protests against the flexible EU rules for Ukrainian exports follow earlier demonstrations against European environmental and climate restrictions on the common agricultural policy. Although Brussels has since eased and postponed some Green Deal proposals, the six major European farmers’ organizations have criticized the recent proposals from the European Commission as insufficient.