MEPs in Strasbourg called, on Wednesday 10 May, for more ambitious measures to tackle the problem of grain exports from Ukraine, which are disrupting the market in neighbouring EU countries.
The Swedish Presidency of the EU Council, represented by Jessika Roswall, said that the preventive and temporary measures agreed with the five frontline EU Member States on 2 May were “far-reaching”. They should, she said, bring relief to farmers in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries. The Swedish Presidency “continues to monitor the situation and is ready to take further action”.
Janusz Wojciechowski, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, recalled that in 2022, Ukrainian imports have increased to 12 million tonnes of maize and over 2.8 million tonnes of wheat. This increase affected the market in five frontline countries, namely Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia. He recalled the planned aid (€100 million, not counting the 56 million already granted) and the temporary preventive measures “in accordance with the safeguard clause included in the regulation on autonomous trade measures” (ban on buying wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine in the 5 countries).
Norbert Lins (EPP, German) said that he would have liked for the Commission to have found “long-term solutions” to the problem, to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market. In particular, he advised appointing a special EU envoy to monitor the flow of Ukrainian agricultural products, an idea also supported by the Renew Europe group.
Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italian) criticised the Commission for “legalising” the bans imposed by Poland and others.
Marek Belka (S&D, Polish) called for a European solution to the problem. Imports to the European market from Ukraine are important for Spain, said Clara Aguilera (S&D, Spanish).
The measures taken by the Commission are “not enough”, said Dacian Cioloș (Renew Europe, Romanian), who suggested “rapid action” to ensure that cereals reach their destination in third countries (see EUROPE 13178/19).
Markéta Gregorová (Greens/EFA, Czech) denounced the unilateral actions of some EU countries “based on mere political gains, thus undermining our European solidarity”. She said she would have liked structural, rather than temporary, solutions.
For Kateřina Konečná (The Left, Czech), “for a year we have been observing the inability of the European Commission to guarantee such a trivial issue as the control of grain imports from Ukraine, which were intended to transit to countries outside the European Union and which, of course, ended up on our market”. Five countries have negotiated import bans and compensation, “but you allow imports back into the EU, so the problem will persist”, she said. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)