Polish farmers will hold a big protest against Ukrainian imports
24 January 2024 10:54
Today, more than 150 demonstrations of local farmers will take place across Poland demanding to restrict imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. This is reported by RMF24 with reference to 
The protest will be held under the slogan “Europe is about growing and breeding”, and the protesters put forward two demands to the EU authorities. Firstly, they demand to limit imports of agricultural products from other countries, including Ukraine.
Stop uncontrolled imports of agri-food products from Ukraine and other non-EU countries that do not apply EU standards! European farmers are subject to costs and regulations that do not apply to farmers from Ukraine and other countries outside the Community,
– the protesters said in a statement.
It is worth noting that this thesis seems somewhat strange, as the requirements for Ukrainian products are very thorough and clear, and it is virtually impossible to import Ukrainian goods into the EU that do not meet their standards.
In addition, Polish farmers are demanding that the EU revise its common European agricultural policy, in particular the restrictions that the EU has prepared in the Green Deal.
“We are protesting against the restrictions on crop and livestock production and the introduction of further environmental restrictions arising from the European Green Deal. We DEMAND changes in the eco-schemes: less bureaucracy and more biologisation,”
– say the protesters.
The protest will consist of bringing tractors and other agricultural machinery onto Polish motorways. The farmers are not going to block traffic completely, but the excess of agricultural machinery on the roads will make it much more difficult.
The preferential trade regime and its opponents
The European Commission may soon extend the preferential trade regime with Ukraine, which, among other things, provides for free and quota-free imports of Ukrainian products into the EU. However, this provision is not popular with many EU members, who may influence the outcome of this decision and its final provisions.
In particular, a number of Eastern European countries are demanding that the EU impose import duties on Ukrainian grain, citing unfair competition. The agriculture ministers of Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia sent a letter to the European Commission asking for action, stating that cheaper agricultural products from Ukraine are eating into their export markets.
This week, it became known that the European Commission is likely to heed the calls of Poland and some other EU countries and introduce a mechanism of restrictions on imports of Ukrainian products. This is likely to be a mechanism that would suspend imports of specific Ukrainian products to a particular national market if that market becomes overcrowded.
