The free trade regime between Ukraine and the European Union has suddenly found another opponent – France. This was reported by RMF 24, Komersant ukrainskyi reports
The publication informs that today, 25 March, the ambassadors of 27 EU countries will once again try to approve a duty-free trade agreement with Ukraine. Last Wednesday’s attempt failed, as the text of the agreement agreed with the European Parliament “turned out to be too weak” for Poland and France. These two countries want greater restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.
In particular, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that he expects changes in the text. He believes that the base period for calculating quotas on Ukrainian imports should be the period until 2021, when imports from Ukraine were at a low level due to the same quotas. Macron also wants to add wheat to the list of quota products.
“This would eliminate many existing difficulties not only in Poland but also in many European countries and here in France,”
– the French president said.
The newspaper reports that the negotiations are becoming increasingly nervous as time is running out and the agreement still needs to be approved by the European Parliament’s plenary session in April, which is the last session before the elections. The agreement should enter into force no later than 5 June and will be valid from 6 June for the next year.
The preferential trade regime and its enemies
The decision to allow the free import of Ukrainian goods into the EU was made by the EU at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion as a gesture of support for the Ukrainian economy and in response to the Russian naval blockade of Ukrainian ports. During the two years of its operation, the simplified regime has gained a lot of opponents in the EU. In particular, the governments of Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia are demanding restrictions on imports of Ukrainian products. They claim that cheap agricultural products from Ukraine are flooding their markets.
Six major European farmers’ associations have also strongly protested against Ukrainian products. Polish farmers have even staged a border blockade, not only with Ukraine but also with Germany.
Nevertheless, the European Commission prepared and the European Parliament adopted a decision on 13 March to extend the preferential regime for another year, until 5 June 2025. However, in the current version, the EU took into account all the requirements and made changes not in favour of Ukraine.
According to this decision, the European Commission may apply any measures it deems necessary if there are “significant disturbances” on the EU market or the markets of one or more EU countries due to Ukrainian imports. The agreement also provides for an emergency suspension of imports of particularly sensitive agricultural products. These products include poultry, eggs, sugar, honey, oats, corn, wheat, and cereals. If the imports of these products exceed the average volumes of 2022-2023, they will be subject to customs tariffs within 14 days. In this way, the EU is effectively returning import quotas for these Ukrainian goods, albeit at a high level. However, even this decision does not suit Poland and now France.