The second aid package aims to support countries affected by Ukraine’s grain and farm product exports, which entered the European market tariff- and quota-free last year to help them transition to global markets. The package totals 100 million €. Earlier, the European Union had approved a first package of 56.3 million €. In recent weeks, pressure has risen from neighboring countries worried about price declines affecting their domestic markets. Poland and Hungary have recently urged caution, while Slovakia and Bulgaria have signaled similar concerns.
Romania, at the end of March, sent a letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, voicing worries about how Ukrainian agricultural imports might affect their markets and calling for a coordinated European response. in reply, the Commission noted that unilateral measures would only aid Ukraine’s adversaries and could undermine longstanding support for Kyiv.
In the letter, the Commission president reminded the recipients that the solidarity mechanism created by the EU to allow Ukrainian grain exports is essential to Kyiv’s resistance in the ongoing war. She noted that Ukraine’s exports must reach markets worldwide, including developing economies, while acknowledging the unforeseen consequences of a sharp increase in imports on European markets that border nations seek to protect.
three lines of action
To address these challenges, Brussels outlined three policy tracks for European governments. First, there is a plan to provide additional support to affected farmers. The new proposal adds 100 million € to the existing 56.3 million €, including 29.5 million € for Poland, 16.75 million € for Bulgaria, and 10 million € for Romania, approved on 30 March to offset economic losses from Ukrainian grain and oilseed imports. While the timing of this extra aid remains to be announced, the aim is to move quickly.
Second, Brussels proposes the adoption of precautionary measures in commercial dealings with certain grain categories — notably wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds — and a broader review of additional sensitive products. The Community Executive Vice President, Valdis Dombrovskis, plans to meet with officials from the five affected countries and Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister, Mykola Solski, to clarify market dynamics and identify potential landing points for shipments, according to a spokesperson for von der Leyen.
Since June of last year, Ukrainian agricultural products benefited from exemptions from quotas and tariffs, a policy set to expire in June 2023. The Commission proposes extending this exemption for another year, through June 2024, to ease exports to non-EU markets given limited export capacity via the Black Sea ports. Before the war, roughly 90% of Ukraine’s grain left through those ports; since the conflict began, many shipments have shifted to Ukraine’s western borders following the disruption of port access.
Von der Leyen explained in her letter that the extension would include a protection mechanism with stricter rules, closer monitoring and reporting to member states, higher trigger thresholds, and a shorter evaluation period. She stressed that this approach would address the concerns of neighboring member states and farmers, helping the EU respond swiftly if needed. The aim is to keep food markets stable in the near term while easing liquidity constraints for global agriculture and ensuring smoother transit of Ukrainian products to other member states and to third-party markets.