EU Parliament approves farmer-backed amendments on trade benefits for Ukraine
The European Parliament adopted changes to the regulation for prolonging trade liberalisation measures with Kyiv, backing EU farmers’ demands and overthrowing the prior vote in the trade committee that rejected the amendments.
Based on this approved text, the Parliament will enter negotiations with the Council – in effect stretching the timeline for a final decision.
Considering the approaching European Parliament elections, which are now in under 90 days, both the EU Council and the Parliament’s trade committee deemed that a ‘fast-track’ procedure with no amendments was the safest pathway to have the temporary measures reapproved for one year, i.e. until 5 June 2024.
However, the plenary voted against the opinion of the rapporteur Sandra Kalniete (EPP) that the committee previously approved.
MEPs added cereals and honey to a sensitive list of products, for which automatic safeguards against excessive imports from Kyiv would be triggered when quantities imported exceed the average volumes of the 2021-23 reference period.
EPP votes were decisive in approving the amendment, which received 347 votes in favour, 117 against and 99 abstentions. The report is now referred back to the trade committee, which will spearhead negotiations on behalf of the Parliament with the Council, to hash out the two text versions’ differences and reach a common ground.
The Commission’s proposal on the renewal of the Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs) with Ukraine, tabled on 31 January, aimed to create an emergency brake on imports of eggs, sugar and poultry, with the trigger based on post-war data, i.e. 2022-23 volumes.
Farmers’ demands
The sharp increase in imports of food commodities from Ukraine into the EU has been a controversial issue in the past years, and one of the main drivers of the farmers’ protests in Eastern European countries in recent months.
Farmers in Eastern Europe set to protest as EU moves to extend Ukraine trade benefits
Tensions are rising over the renewal of the EU’s trade liberalisation with Ukraine, with the European Commission meeting with neighbouring countries on Tuesday (20 February) and a joint protest in Eastern Europe set to take place on Thursday.
The issue then became part of the EU farming organisations’ demands. The groups called on the Parliament and member states to adopt safeguards on more sectors and with a reference period based on pre-war trade data.
“Members of the Parliament finally decided to show their understanding for affected EU producers and manufacturers,” the farmers’ organisations Copa and Cogeca, the poultry processors and traders in the EU, the sugar manufacturers, the maize producers, the beet growers, and the union of wholesalers of eggs poultry and game stated, said in a joint statement.
“Our organisations have never put into question the need to support Ukraine,” they added, highlighting that their amendments the Commission’s proposal were “limited, yet very necessary”.
The Autonomous Trade Measures for trade liberalisation with Ukraine have been in force since 4 June 2022, and have already been renewed once. They are part of the EU initiative to help Ukraine’s trade, together with the solidarity lanes improving cross-border connections.
In a separate vote on Wednesday, Parliament agreed with 459 votes in favour, 65 against and 57 abstentions that all remaining duties on imports from Moldova should be suspended for another year.
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