EU votes to extend trade support for Ukraine
Maize - Photo © Rebel - Fotolia
(BRUSSELS) - The European Parliament and EU Council reached provisional agreement Wednesday on extending trade liberalisation measures for Ukraine in the face of Russia's war of aggression.
Under the deal, import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports to the EU will be suspended for another year, until 5 June 2025.
The EU Commission is empowered to take swift action and impose any measures it deems necessary should there be significant disruption to the EU market or the markets of one or more EU countries due to Ukrainian imports.
The regulation also provides for an emergency brake for particularly sensitive agricultural products, namely poultry, eggs, and sugar.
The expansion of this list has been extended to include oats, maize, groats and honey.
MEPs also attained firm commitments from the Commission to take action if there is a surge of Ukrainian imports of wheat.
The reference period for triggering the emergency brake will be 2022 and 2023, meaning that if imports of these products surpass the average volumes of these two years, tariffs would be re-imposed. EP negotiators also ensured that the Commission would act faster - within 14 days instead of 21 days - if trigger levels for the automatic safeguards were reached.
The Parliament and Council will now both have to give their final green light to the provisional agreement. The current suspension expires on 5 June 2024. The new regulations should enter into force immediately following this expiration date.