The European Commission is preparing to reintroduce the pre-war tariff quotas on certain Ukrainian agricultural products starting June 6th, when the current tariff waivers, introduced after the Russian invasion to help Ukraine’s economy, are due to expire.
The measures will affect the most problematic products that have been flooding the EU markets to the detriment of local producers, including eggs, wheat, poultry, dairy, beef, pork, and maize.
The EU’s wartime agreement to let Ukrainian produce flow freely into the EU has been a cause for conflict for years. European farmers have voiced valid concerns about being unable to compete with poor quality products from Ukrainian farmers who don’t have to conform to any of the strict EU regulations.
Along with the Green Deal, skyrocketing energy prices, and increased environmental regulations choking farmers, the Ukrainian products have been the primary reason for the continent-wide farmers’ protests last year, including the blocking of the EU district in Brussels with hundreds of tractors on multiple occasions.
Continuing to allow this favorable access has become politically impossible in several member states, including France and Poland, which spearheaded the push in Brussels to reverse the measure.
The issue has taken center stage especially in Poland, where farmers have repeatedly blockaded Ukrainian border crossings in the past few years, and now, Donald Tusk’s ruling liberal government is trying to win them over for the upcoming presidential elections, scheduled for Sunday, May 18th.
However, the Commission also made it clear that it considers these merely as “transitional measures,” to be replaced by a new comprehensive trade agreement from next year.
Tamás Orbán is a political journalist for europeanconservative.com, based in Brussels. Born in Transylvania, he studied history and international relations in Kolozsvár, and worked for several political research institutes in Budapest. His interests include current affairs, social movements, geopolitics, and Central European security. On Twitter, he is @TamasOrbanEC.
