Brussels, 07/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 7 May, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said on the sidelines of the European trade ministers' meeting in Brussels that the EU would not give in to Russia's demands to delay implementation further of the free trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and Ukraine. The agreement has already been postponed by 15 months - until 1 January 2016.
“The date is 1 January next year. It is not for Russia to decide”, Malmström stated, adding that the member states had been very clear about this. “We are willing to talk on practical difficulties with the Russians. We will do so and there will be a ministerial meeting later this month to find practical solutions”, she said.
The trilateral consultations on the impact on the Russian economy of implementing the trade part of the EU-Ukraine association agreement are part of the Minsk peace agreement of 12 February.
As part of the trilateral compromise reached at ministerial level on 12 September 2014 (see EUROPE 11155), the Commission has already agreed to postpone the temporary implementation of the EU-Ukraine FTA until 1 January 2016 in order to respond to Russia's concerns.
After two days of technical level consultations on 21 April, the Commission reiterated that it was ready to respond to Russia's concerns within the limits of flexibility permitted by the agreement.
According to several EU sources, Russia has asked for an extension - until 1 January 2017 - to the postponement on implementing the agreement so as to prolong discussions.
Russia raises systemic issues resulting from the EU-Ukraine FTA and asks for the agreement to be rewritten. It fears the arrival of European goods on its market via Ukraine would be to the detriment of its own national production. Furthermore, Russia does not believe Ukraine should benefit from privileged trading conditions with both Russia and the EU at the same time. The Russian concerns are about tariffs, standards and technical regulation, veterinary and phytosanitary standards, energy and customs duties. According to diplomatic sources, Russia would like to negotiate on over 200 tariff lines. (Emmanuel Hagry)