5 EU members reportedly unhappy with new Ukraine trade deal
Five EU member states are unhappy with a new trade agreement between Ukraine and the bloc, European Pravda reported on July 14, citing several EU diplomats.
"They believe that a new agreement within the framework of the (Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area) DCFTA could destabilize European markets," a source present during an EU Agriculture Council meeting said.
"At the request of a group of several states, we also discussed the revised agreement with Ukraine," European Commissioner for Agriculture, Christoph Hansen, said.
The new trade deal replaces the autonomous trade measures (ATMs) that allowed Ukrainian agricultural and food products to enter the EU tariff-free since 2022. Pre-war trade conditions were reinstated for a brief period when the temporary measures expired on June 5.
EU tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural exports resumed briefly on June 6, amid opposition to Ukrainian exports and its EU accession from eastern European members, including Hungary and Poland.
Protests against Ukrainian agricultural exports to the bloc occurred through much of 2022 in EU countries neighboring Ukraine.
On May 12, Polish truckers restarted protests at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint, limiting truck passage through the largest commercial customs post on the Ukrainian-Polish border to one vehicle per hour in each direction.
Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania feel that the DCFTA between Ukraine and the EU could destabilize the bloc's agricultural market, the sources said.
"Today, different views were expressed on this agreement, and I believe it is useful to have a frank discussion in this format. I presented the facts about this agreement and stated that it is in the interests of our farmers," Hansen told the European Pravda.
The trade deal is structured in three groups. The first group introduces modest quota increases for products considered sensitive by EU members, including eggs, poultry, sugar, wheat, maize, and honey.
The second group of products will see their quotas adjusted to reflect peak import levels reached since the start of Russia's war. The products include butter, skimmed milk powder, oats, barley, malt, and gluten.
The third group consists of Ukrainian products with fully open trade to the EU. These include items such as whole milk powder, fermented milk, mushrooms, and grape juice.
"During the campaign, I did not agree, and as president, I will not agree, to unfair competition with Ukraine for Polish agriculture or the logistics sector," Polish President-elect Karol Nawrocki told the media on June 7.
Ukraine has increasingly relied on rail and road transport connecting to the EU since the onset of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
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