Europe plans to extend the trade liberalization regime with Ukraine for another year

The European Parliament Committee on International Trade on Thursday approved the continuation of trade liberalization measures to support Ukraine and Moldova. As noted in the European Parliament, the decision regarding Ukraine was adopted by 26 votes. 10 members of the committee spoke against, and one abstained. Currently, it is proposed to extend the temporary suspension of import duties and quotas for the export of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU for another year - from June 6, 2024 to June 5, 2025. This should support Ukraine in the conditions of an aggressive war with the russian federation.

It should be noted that the draft of the future decision empowers the European Commission to "take operational measures and implement any necessary measures in the event of significant disruptions on the EU market or on the markets of one or more EU countries due to Ukrainian imports." It also provides for emergency braking for "particularly sensitive" agricultural products, namely poultry, eggs and sugar. This means that if the volume of imports of these products exceeds the average volumes of 2022 and 2023, the tariffs will be imposed again.

The European Parliament is currently scheduled to vote on the position in the first reading at next week's plenary session. After that, the Council of the European Union will officially approve the regulation and it will enter into force after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.