EU ambassadors to try for third time to approve trade liberalisation agreement with Ukraine

Ambassadors of the 27 EU countries will once again try to approve the extension of the duty-free trade agreement with Ukraine on Wednesday, 27 March.

Source: European Pravda

Details: The meeting will mark the third time EU representatives have met since a tentative compromise with the European Parliament was reached a week ago, which was later rejected due to the opposition of a group of countries led by Poland and France.

Warsaw and Paris, supported by a group of Ukraine's neighbours, sought to include 2021, when the volume of Ukrainian agricultural imports was lower, in determining the quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products.

Polish radio station RMF FM reported that the draft agreement currently stipulates that the average is based on 2022-2023 when Ukrainian imports were actually higher.

As the Polish radio station learned from its sources, a compromise is being considered, where only six months, starting in June, would be included instead of the whole of 2021.

In addition, France and Poland are still trying to impose quantitative restrictions on Ukrainian wheat, which currently apply only to sugar and eggs, and, after a compromise with the European Parliament, to poultry, grain, oats and honey.

France is seeking to include barley in the list. However, the radio station noted that it would be challenging to achieve this. On Tuesday, Belgian Agriculture Minister David Clarinval made it clear that there had been no agreement from the European Union in this regard.

"The Belgians are very reluctant to make concessions, as making changes would mean further negotiations with the European Parliament and a very tight timetable for approving the agreement, which is due to enter into force on 6 June for another year. This turns everything upside down," an EU source said.

Background:

• On Monday, EU ambassadors discussed the renewal and extension of the agreement, but did not approve it. The Belgian presidency postponed approval of the agreement until Wednesday, as many countries have not decided on their stance.
• Last Wednesday, the ambassadors also failed to approve the agreement, as Poland and France considered the text agreed with the European Parliament insufficient.

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