While Europeans continue to reaffirm their support for Ukraine, reality sometimes invalidates this declaration of principles. During a meeting of heads of state and government in Brussels on March 21 and 22, they once again promised Kiev to be at its side “on all levels and over the long term” , assured Emmanuel Macron, Friday March 22. But, at the same time, they want to restrict Ukrainian agricultural imports, which, since June 2022, have entered the domestic market without customs duties.
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Faced with the farmers' demonstrations which shook the old continent at the start of the year, and with the approach of the European elections, which could see the far right make a breakthrough in Strasbourg, many governments are pleading in this direction. First and foremost Poland, but also Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, whose neighboring markets have been destabilized by the arrival of low-priced Ukrainian agricultural products and which have been demanding adjustments for months.
When the Commission proposed, on January 31, to renew the June 2022 agreement until June 2025, while providing, however, to reintroduce customs duties beyond a certain volume of imports for three products deemed “sensitive” – poultry, eggs and sugar – Warsaw and his friends stepped up to demand more. France, but also Italy and Greece, which were more or less on the same line, let Donald Tusk, the Polish Prime Minister, lead the revolt.
Paris is out of the woods
In reality, they counted on the European Parliament to serve their interests. MEPs have in fact spoken out in favor of a tougher system, extended to certain cereals, including wheat, and whose reference period would take into account 2021 and the situation before the war, when Ukraine exported less to the old continent. That’s a potential loss of revenue of 1.2 billion euros for kyiv.
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But, during the latest negotiations between the Twenty-Seven and the MEPs, the European Parliament showed itself to be less pugnacious than expected and ultimately revised its claims downwards. As a result, on March 19, the co-legislators decided to supplement the Commission's proposal with an “emergency brake” for oats, corn, groats and honey, but not wheat, and not to modify the reference period.
The next day, several capitals considered that this agreement was not acceptable. Paris, in particular, has come out of the woods. In this context, the subject came up again to the heads of state and government, who asked their minister to reopen negotiations.
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