The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, on Tuesday 25 July told the ‘Agriculture’ Council that he was in favour of EU aid to reduce the cost of transporting Ukrainian grain to Ukraine’s European neighbours.
He said he would present such EU aid to the European College of Commissioners. “Because of transport costs in the ‘solidarity lanes’, trade is not sufficiently attractive, particularly in Romania”, explained the Commissioner for Agriculture.
Faced with a request from five EU countries (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania) close to Ukraine to extend the ban on importing Ukrainian grain into their countries beyond 15 September, Mr Wojciechowski said that he would take stock of the situation in September, before the restrictions expire.
The Commissioner also mentioned the increase in imports of certain fruit and vegetables, including raspberries, in response to Poland’s request to extend the list of products affected by the import bans on Ukrainian agricultural products.
At the Council meeting, several agriculture ministers, including those from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Luxembourg, opposed the extension of the restrictions imposed by these five Eastern European countries on Ukrainian grain imports since April.
For the French minister, Marc Fesneau, “there can be no unilateral measures or individual adventures; it is only collectively that we will meet the challenge of destabilising the markets”.
“These measures are limited in time. It is unacceptable for certain Member States to ignore the treaties in force”, said the German minister, Cem Özdemir.
Lithuania has also written a letter to the European Commission proposing to strengthen the transport route between Ukraine and the Baltic States in order to guarantee alternative routes for the export of Ukrainian grain and other products. The Commission is looking into this avenue, as well as others that could help find solutions, through ‘solidarity lanes’, to the end of the international agreement on Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)