On Monday 18 November, several EU Agriculture Ministers called on the European Commission to be vigilant regarding the possible destabilisation of the European market as a result of imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, particularly honey.
Bulgaria and Romania, supported by several other countries, have requested EU safeguard measures because of massive imports of Ukrainian honey, which are destabilising the beekeeping sectors in these two countries.
Slovakia felt that imports of Ukrainian agricultural products had “distorted our market and threatened the viability of our beekeepers”, and that the national measure (banning imports of Ukrainian agricultural products) had “protected domestic producers without jeopardising Ukrainian exports”. Poland and Hungary have also imposed such restrictions at national level.
In Latvia’s view, we need to be “very cautious” about these cheap honey imports from third countries. We need to protect our products from unfair competition, said the Latvian Minister.
Greece felt that EU beekeepers needed to be protected from unfair trading practices.
The French delegation noted that the ‘emergency brake’ mechanism provided for in the Regulation on autonomous trade measures was proving effective in general, and asked the Commission to be “vigilant with regard to possible destabilisation of the European market in connection with Ukrainian imports”.
Austria called for the introduction of a uniform honey labelling system, while Italy supported an increase in import controls and investment in our EU honey.
The Commission recalled that the implementation of the autonomous trade measures had gone smoothly, with good cooperation from Ukraine. “We are closely monitoring imports of the seven sensitive products subject to the automatic safeguard, including honey”, said Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski.
He pointed out that the automatic safeguard for honey was activated on 21 August (see EUROPE 13466/6). This means that the Commission has suspended the duty-free preference granted under the autonomous trade measures until the end of 2024.
Imports of honey from Ukraine are now subject to ‘most-favoured nation’ duties, as is the case for honey imported from any other non-preferential origin in the world. From 1 January 2025 until 5 June 2025, a new zero-duty quota for honey will be introduced (18,507 tonnes, corresponding to five-twelfths of the threshold set for triggering the emergency brake).
The Ukrainian Minister for Agrarian Policy and Food, Vitalii Koval, explained to the Ministers that “trade is almost at the same level as it was before the war”, reported István Nagy, the Hungarian Minister, at the final press conference.
At his last press conference as Commissioner [if the ‘von der Leyen II’ Commission takes office at the beginning of December, editor’s note], Janusz Wojciechowski said that the pressure of Ukrainian imports on EU countries was better distributed today.
A word on the EU/Mercosur agreement (see other news): the Commissioner reiterated the need to take account of “the serious concerns” of farmers, as the trade agreement “has not evolved since 2019, while the situation of EU farmers has changed significantly”.
Rural development. In response to a request from many Ministers (Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Romania, etc.) to adopt the ‘N+3’ rule (https://aeur.eu/f/ebb ) for rural development funds in the strategic plans implementing the CAP over the period 2023-2027, Janusz Wojciechowski pointed out that the ‘N+2’ decommitment rule for the new CAP had been decided in 2020 by the European Council, in the context of the agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
This measure was then included in the horizontal CAP Regulation by the co-legislators in 2021. It was also part of the Commission’s initial proposals in 2018, both for the CAP and for regional policy funds.
“This request is therefore politically very sensitive. It is also sensitive in terms of its impact on implementation and the achievement of results. Indeed, the ‘N+2’ rule guarantees rapid implementation of the CAP’s strategic plans, to the benefit of CAP beneficiaries”, stressed the Commissioner. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)