On Thursday 15 February, six EU farming organisations expressed the view that the European Commission’s proposal to better control the influx of Ukrainian products into the EU (see EUROPE 13350/4) was insufficient.
At the end of January, the Commission proposed to renew for one additional year, from June, the exemption from customs duties granted to Ukraine since the spring of 2022 to support the country at war (see EUROPE 13340/7). The Commission has proposed safeguard measures to limit the impact of imports. Corrective measures could be adopted in the event of major market disturbances and, for three products (poultry, eggs and sugar), an emergency brake would stabilise imports at the average import volumes in 2022-2023, beyond which customs duties would be re-imposed.
This text, which is now being reviewed by the Member States and MEPs, is not satisfactory for Copa-Cogeca and five European organisations representing key sectors (sugar beet, grain/oilseeds, poultry, eggs).
“Should the Commission’s proposed text remain unamended, the economic sustainability of the EU’s poultry, eggs, sugar, grain, and honey sectors would be jeopardised” under pressure from cheap Ukrainian competition, the organisations warn.
Regarding the proposed ceilings for three products, they deplore that “it is precisely these volumes that have contributed” to the current crisis, while no restrictions are planned (automatically) for grain and honey, despite Ukraine’s significant production capacity. “Unfortunately, it appears that the Council and the European Parliament are not inclined to take action. This approach will fail to address the concerns of farmers currently protesting and will likely lead to further demonstrations”, or even new “unilateral bans” in border countries, warn the organisations.
Farmers in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia are currently selling their produce at around 40% below the market price, assuming they can sell it at all, they claim. This is a problem that is “begun to affect other Member States such as France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria, where producers of grains, poultry, and sugar are experiencing significant pressure” from exports that are “failing to meet our environmental and social standards [and] driving agricultural prices downward”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)