During a debate in Strasbourg on Tuesday 12 March, virtually all the members of the European Parliament called for the EU to impose an immediate embargo on agricultural products and fertilisers from Russia and Belarus.
EU sanctions do not prohibit EU companies from buying, importing or paying for Russian agricultural products, as long as no sanctioned person is involved in the operation. The EU has expressly avoided introducing a direct and total ban on imports of Russian agricultural products (see EUROPE 13355/1).
However, MEPs from all sides of the House have once again called for an embargo on agricultural products from Russia, on the grounds that they are beginning to flood the European market. Andrzej Halicki (EPP, Polish) even called for the resignation of the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, and pointed out that two million tonnes of Russian cereals had entered the European market in the last two months. Only Clara Aguilera (S&D, Spanish) was reticent about the idea of imposing sanctions on Russian agricultural products.
Petras Auštrevičius (Renew Europe, Lithuanian) called for an end to imports of agricultural products from Russia and Belarus “as soon as possible”, as did Anna Fotyga (ECR, Polish) and Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Greens/EFA, German), who fear a new dependence on Russia for food. Gilles Lebreton (ID, French) also defended a ban on Russian grains to protect EU grain producers and support Ukraine’s efforts.
The European Commission said it was analysing the flow of agri-food products to the EU, particularly from Russia, and assessing “what the impact of those flows are for our own agricultural markets and for our farmers, and for the wider issue of global food security” in particular. “We will continue to assess what further action could and should be taken as and when necessary”, concluded Commissioner Ylva Johansson. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)