European Parliament approves extension of trade benefits for Ukraine and Moldova

The European Parliament's International Trade Committee has approved the extension of the current preferential trade treatment regime to support Ukraine and Moldova. 26 members of the committee voted in favour and 10 against, with one abstention.

The proposal provides for the extension of the temporary suspension of import duties and quotas for Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU for another year, from 6 June 2024 to 5 June 2025.

At the same time, the legislation gives the European Commission the power to "take swift action and impose any necessary measures should there be significant disruptions to the EU market, or to the markets of one or more EU countries due to Ukrainian imports."

In a separate vote on Thursday, the committee agreed with 28 votes in favour, 2 against and 6 abstentions that all duties on imports from Moldova should be suspended for another year.

The European Parliament is expected to vote on this position in the first reading at its plenary session next week. The Council will then formally approve the regulation, and it will enter into force after publication in the EU's Official Journal.

Taras Kachka, Ukraine's trade representative, commenting on the EP Committee's decision. He said that a week ago, the European Commission's proposal was subject to more than 100 amendments in the Agriculture and Trade Committee, almost all of which proposed to decrease access of Ukrainian products to the EU market.

"Through active work with member states, especially Poland, with European institutions and MEPs, we managed to reduce the number of amendments to be voted on to two. And they did not get enough votes," Kachka said.

In February, the permanent representatives of the European Union member states agreed on a mandate for the EU Council to negotiate a proposal to extend the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports for another year.

In late January, the European Commission officially proposed to extend the suspension of import quotas and duties on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, while including safeguards for agricultural products, as demanded by several EU countries.

However, this proposal did not satisfy farmers in EU countries bordering Ukraine, who started protests, particularly in Poland.