BRUSSELS, April 9. /TASS/. Ukraine will have to impose certain restrictions on its agricultural sector to join the European Union if the countries of the association continue to tighten the terms of trade with Kiev, Politico newspaper wrote.
The publication notes that the discussed tariffs on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products are needed to correct "inequalities" in the trade balance between Ukraine and the EU.
"My amendments are in the interest of Ukraine," Polish MEP Andrzej Halicki who proposed tightening the terms of trade with Kiev, said. According to him, the restrictions are not designed to stop imports altogether but are about protecting European farmers from increased competition.
Officials in Kiev do not agree with this assessment, writes Politico. The newspaper recalls that trade liberalization measures will expire in June 2025, and after that the parties will have to gradually return to the conditions that existed before 2016, which means worsening conditions for Kiev.
"We need to start accession talks [on Ukraine’s accession to the EU], but on realistic terms, the Polish lawmaker said meaning the agricultural sector. However, as Politico wrote, it could take years before Europeans and Ukrainians will manage to overcome disagreements on this issue.
Earlier, Reuters reported citing an unnamed European diplomat, that the EU leadership had reached a preliminary agreement on tariffs on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. However, there are also those in the EU leadership who believe that this will destabilize European agricultural markets.
On March 27, ambassadors of EU member states agreed on a new compromise proposal to extend the abolition of customs tariffs in trade with Ukraine for a year, but with a number of restrictions. This is Brussels’ second attempt to extend the abolition of customs tariffs with Ukraine - the first, agreed on March 20, was rejected by the European Parliament.
The lawmakers demanded that the decision to extend the duty-free trade regime with Kiev include conditions for the resumption of duties if the flow of agricultural goods into the EU from Ukraine becomes excessive and threatens the stability of the community.
Since January 1, 2016, an agreement on a "deep and comprehensive free trade area" has been in force between the European Union and Ukraine. However, as experts note, the need for special decisions to abolish all quotas and tariffs for a limited period shows that the so-called free trade regime over the past nine years has not prevented the EU from maintaining tariffs on significant volumes of Ukrainian exports. Nevertheless, the EU countries have had virtually unlimited access to the Ukrainian market all this time.