Ukrainian government awaits final decision of EU ambassadors on trade compromise – Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister

Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, has announced that the government hopes the ambassadors of EU countries will finally approve the extension of autonomous trade preferences for Ukraine on Friday, 29 March.

Source: Stefanishyna in an interview with European Pravda as part of the special project "Trade Wars," supported by the law firm Ilyashev & Partners 

Details: Stefanishyna noted that the current compromise agreement proposes two key changes that Ukraine is criticising. One of them is to shorten the period for the EU to decide on imposing restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural imports, if there are grounds to do so, to 14 days.

The second change proposes to extend the period that the EU will use as a basis to assess statistics in case restrictions need to be imposed – they are proposing to take the indicators for 2022-2023, as well as data from the first half of 2021, when Ukrainian agricultural imports were significantly lower.

Stefanishyna emphasised that this agreement does not automatically mean the introduction of restrictions.

Quote: "And this is not a final decision yet. So far, the European Commission's principled position is that we can discuss the list of goods for which restrictions may be imposed – and the Ukrainian side also supports this position.

In particular, oats, maize (in flour and granular form), barley groats and meal, and processed cereal grain are to be included in the expanded list of goods subject to possible restrictions," the Deputy Prime Minister said.

She added that Ukraine "does not greatly welcome" the constant expansion of the list of products subject to possible restrictions.

"However, we hope that on 29 March, at EU ambassador level, a final decision will be made, albeit with such changes," the Deputy PM noted.

Background:

• Against the backdrop of prolonged controversy within the EU regarding Ukrainian agricultural imports, the Belgian presidency proposed a new compromise, which finally garnered support from EU countries on Wednesday evening. Poland and France have led efforts for the EU to restrict Ukrainian agricultural imports.
• Many experts see the current discussions in the EU about trade preferences for Kyiv as a harbinger of tough negotiations regarding the Ukrainian agricultural sector in the process of Ukraine's accession to the European Union.

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