The EU Council is expected to align its position with that of the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation imposing additional customs duties on Russian and Belarusian agricultural products and fertilisers. The experts from the Member States have agreed to move in this direction and would like the European Parliament to do likewise, so that the regulation can be adopted quickly, without going through the trilogues.
The permanent representatives of the Member States to the EU are due to adopt their position on Friday 14 March, a month and a half after the Commission published its proposal (see EUROPE 13567/1).
This involves imposing an additional tariff of 50% on a range of Russian and Belarusian agricultural products, as well as a progressive tariff on certain fertilisers from these two countries.
During previous discussions, several Member States, as well as some MEPs, warned against a significant price increase for nitrogen-based fertilisers (see EUROPE 13581/6, 13583/3). The regulation provides for the Commission to monitor imports and prices, and to take appropriate measures, such as suspending its tariffs, if prices “substantially exceed 2024 levels”.
For their part, MEPs could take longer to adopt the text and propose changes. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)