The European Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, met the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, in Kyiv on Friday 8 March. This was an opportunity for the two to discuss Ukrainian exports to the EU, some of which are causing problems for neighbouring countries.
For the past month, Polish farmers have been blocking lorries with Ukrainian foodstuffs at the border, in protest against the EU’s autonomous trade measures towards Kyiv. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk even raised the idea of temporarily closing the border on Wednesday 28 February.
“Ukraine is ready to take additional measures, in coordination with neighbouring EU member states and the European Commission, to unblock the border and restore exports and transit of Ukrainian products”, said Mr Shmyhal on Friday 8 March.
As part of the coordination platform for European agricultural exports set up by the European Commission, Kyiv has already agreed to closely monitor its exports to the EU.
The Commission has therefore proposed to renew the suspension of tariffs on Ukrainian products for a further year, with reinforced safeguard mechanisms. A vote by the European Parliament is due to confirm this extension decision.
However, both the countries bordering Ukraine and representatives of the farming community in the EU consider that the safeguards provided by the Commission are not sufficient to protect European farmers. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)