EU envoys fail to approve deal to extend trade liberalization for Ukraine, ask for more time - Politico
Kyiv • UNN
EU ambassadors failed to approve the extension of trade liberalization measures for Ukraine on the eve of the summit of the bloc's leaders, due to concerns of some countries about the impact on their agricultural markets, and will discuss the issue at their next meeting next week.
EU ambassadors today failed to approve a decision to extend trade liberalization measures for Ukraine for another year, threatening to overshadow a summit at which leaders of the bloc want to renew pledges of political, military and economic support for Ukraine, Politico reported on Wednesday, UNN reported.
Details
The EU ambassadors were to approve a preliminary agreement concluded between the institutions overnight.
"But several countries refused, asking for more time to assess the implications of the deal," the newspaper writes, citing two European diplomats and one EU official.
The newspaper points out that this is an "unwelcome turn" ahead of Thursday's EU summit, where leaders want to show solidarity with Ukraine while trying not to anger influential voters, including protesting farmers, who could influence the situation in the June European elections.
The compromise reached by negotiators from the EU Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission, the newspaper points out, "will expand import restrictions to cover four additional agricultural products and require the EU executive to act faster in the event of a sharp rise in imports.
"To Kyiv's relief," the newspaper notes, "EU negotiators also decided against extending the 2022-2023 reference period for calculating the caps to include 2021, when imports from Ukraine into the EU were much lower."
But it was a red line for Paris, French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said Wednesday morning.
"The deal is still not what we wanted it to be," Fesno said. He added that solidarity with Ukraine should not come "at the expense of unduly destabilizing" European markets.
These remarks confirmed the publication's earlier report that France had joined Poland in calling for further restrictions on imports of Ukrainian products.
"Governments across Europe are under political siege from protesters who say they cannot compete with cheap imports because of the cost of the EU's green bureaucracy," the newspaper writes.
"The ambassadors will discuss this issue at their next meeting next week," the publication says.
As stated, "although this decision complicates the process, negotiators are still hopeful that the measures will be agreed before they expire in early June".
