EU ambassadors fail to reach agreement on extension of trade benefit for Ukraine with restrictions

Ambassadors of EU countries on 13 March did not manage to make a decision on the extension of measures for liberalisation of trade for Ukraine for one more year which threatens to disrupt the summit where the leaders want to renew their commitments in political, military and economic support for Kyiv.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Politico

Details: The EU ambassadors were supposed to adopt the preliminary agreement reached by the institutions overnight.

But several countries refused, asking for more time to assess the consequences of the decree, as reported by two European diplomats and an EU official.

This unpleasant outcome occurred ahead of the EU summit on 14 March during which the leaders wanted to demonstrate their solidarity with Ukraine, which resists Russia's war of conquest, while also trying not to disappoint influential voters, such as farmers, who may affect the results of the European elections in June.

The compromise reached by the representatives of the European Council, Parliament and Commission provides for the extension of the limits on import of four more agricultural products and obliges the executive authorities of the EU to act faster in the event of rapid import growth.

Fortunately for Kyiv, the participants of the negotiations with the EU also decided not to extend the baseline period of 2022-2023 for estimating the limits, also including 2021 in it, when import from Ukraine to the EU was significantly lower.

This, however, became the red line for Paris, said Marc Fesneau, French Minister of Agriculture and Food.

"The agreement is still not like we want to see it," Fesneau stated on 13 March. He added that solidarity with Ukraine should not be reached through "excessive destabilisation" of European markets.

These statements confirmed an earlier report in Politico that France had joined Poland, which called for further restrictions on import of Ukrainian products.

The ambassadors will discuss this issue at their meeting next week.

Though this decision makes the process more complicated, the participants of the talks still hope that the measures will be agreed on before their period of validity ends at the beginning of June.

The European Commission has officially proposed to extend the suspension of import quotas and duties on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, while including safety measures for agricultural products, as demanded by several EU countries.

But this proposition did not satisfy farmers in the EU countries which border Ukraine and made them start protest actions, mainly in Poland.

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