EU will not extend preferential trade with Ukraine in its current form

The European Commission is considering not extending Ukraine’s preferential trade regime, which expires in June, in its current form, and has already begun technical negotiations on new trade terms. This was reported by the Polish RMF24.

The European Commission allegedly does not plan to extend the special preferential trade regime with Ukraine after June 5, which was introduced in 2022 to support the Ukrainian economy.

However, there is no question of returning to the trade regime that existed before the full-scale war, which would be a significant blow to Ukraine, whose exports to the EU have grown even more in recent years.

As an option, they consider an agreement within the framework of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), which could include quotas for certain types of agricultural products from Ukraine and additional safeguards.

Such a format, the newspaper writes, could facilitate Ukraine’s gradual integration into the EU single market and prepare it for future membership.

“The majority of agriculture ministers are in favor of a more stable DCFTA agreement than the continuation of the current regime…The preference is to move towards a DCFTA, where new export and import volumes will be defined,” said European Commissioner for Agriculture Christof Hansen, adding that this would be ”the best solution.”

According to RMF FM, the European Commission has already begun negotiations with Kyiv on a new trade agreement – at a technical level, and the main talks are expected to begin soon.

The unnamed source in the European Commission expects that in the future, trade support measures for Ukraine will be more modest and the volume of agricultural imports from Ukraine to the EU will decrease.

He attributed this, among other things, to changes in the leadership of the European Commission and the appointment of Slovakian representative Maroš Šefčovič as European Commissioner for Trade instead of Latvian Valdis Dombrovskis. Slovakia’s position on trade with Ukraine is closer to that of Poland.

RMF FM’s interlocutors in the European Commission say that the issue is very sensitive, as on the one hand, the EU wants to leave Ukraine with the most favorable conditions possible to support its economy in the face of war, and on the other hand, they fear the discontent of European farmers.

As reported, in September, Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture and Food Georgi Takhov said that the European Commission should ban the import of Ukrainian eggs to Bulgaria.

In May, the Council of the European Union finally approved the extension of the suspension of duties and quotas on imports of Ukrainian goods to the EU, but with additional safeguards to protect European farmers.

Tags: EU