Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) debated trade relations with Ukraine and the future of the EU/Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) on Wednesday 19 March. The opening up of trade, particularly in agricultural products, continues to divide the political groups. They are united only in sending an urgent message to the Commission: it must rapidly propose a solution for the period after June 2025, when the EU’s autonomous trade measures (ATMs) expire.
The Chair of the INTA Committee, Bernd Lange (S&D, German), expressed his disappointment at the lack of information on this subject from the Commission. A number of colleagues echoed his comments, recalling previous exchanges on this subject in which MEPs had already asked the Commission for details, but without receiving any.
Although they were unable to debate a concrete proposal, the MEPs reiterated their priorities on the subject. Iuliu Winkler (EPP, Romanian), Anne Bryłka (PfE, Polish) and Céline Imart (EPP, French) reiterated their concerns about imports of agricultural products from Ukraine, which they believe are harming European producers. Mr Winkler highlighted the disruption to markets in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries, while Ms Imart asked the European Commission about the volume of tariff quotas envisaged and the extent of the products covered.
However, Pekka Toveri (EPP, Finnish), Markéta Gregorová (Greens/EFA, Czech) and Karin Karlsbro (Renew Europe, Swedish) disagreed and called for full support for Ukrainian exports.
“There is no indication that imports of Ukrainian products have had a significant impact on EU market. There is no reason to weaken DCFTA”, said Karin Karlsbro.
She was speaking as rapporteur on the Commission’s proposal, published on 7 March, to suspend the steel safeguard measure for Ukraine.
“In coordination with the Council, we will be proposing minor technical amendments to the duration of the suspension”, said Ms Karlsbro. And she called on her colleagues to adopt this proposal quickly.
Bernd Lange proposed using the simplified procedure, which the members of the INTA committee did not oppose. They now have until 5 p.m. on Thursday 20 March to submit amendments to the proposed regulation. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)