Those who voted against extending free trade with Ukraine in the EP voted against Polish farmers; it happened out of ill will or out of ignorance; Polish farmers got what they fought for, namely stopping the excessive import of food from Ukraine, says EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski in an interview with PAP.
The European Commission has done everything possible in this area. The opposition claims that the EU, at the hands of the Polish Commissioner, has not blocked imports from Ukraine in a situation where Ukraine is blocked on three sides by Russia. To expect the EU to block Ukraine from the fourth side and close this Russian cordon with the hands of the Polish Commissioner is absurd
– he said.
Polish trade with Ukraine
He added that the Polish economy benefits greatly from free trade with Ukraine.
First of all, Poland is the largest exporter in the EU to Ukraine. In 2022, the value of exports to this country will amount to almost 10 billion euros. In second place is Germany with 4 billion euros. For example, Poland has 2.5 times more exports than Germany. Polish exports also account for a third of EU exports. We have a trade surplus of 4 billion euros in exchange with Ukraine
– he said.
Of course Poland has a negative balance of trade in agricultural products. That is why we have decided to help farmers affected by this situation. The volume of this aid during the year, with the approval of the EC, in which I had a significant share, totaled EUR 1 billion 620 million. It is more than PLN 7 billion. This is unprecedented. Never in such a short time has there been government support on such a scale in any country. This help is desperately needed by farmers affected by the consequences of the war
he pointed it out.
“Either ill-will or ignorance”
He added that he was surprised that some MEPs did not support the decision to extend the abolition of import duties on Ukrainian goods.
It happened out of ill will or out of ignorance. Those who voted against extending free trade with Ukraine in the EP voted against Polish farmers. The regulation, which was voted on in the EP, creates the conditions to extend the import ban on grain from Ukraine to four products, namely wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed. This regulation includes a safeguard clause to enforce this import ban. If it were not for this arrangement, the free importation of almost all grains from Ukraine without customs duties would have been in force since June 5. This would be a very bad situation for Polish farmers
– he said.
He added that the extension of the decision is an advantage for the Polish economy, which benefits greatly from it.
Russia today uses food as a weapon and unfortunately has powerful tools to destabilize food markets around the world. Russia is increasing its exports, benefiting from sanctions-free food and pushing Ukraine from its traditional markets. I think that was one of the goals of this war, apart from the desire to subjugate Ukraine. Polish farmers got what they fought for, which was to stop the excessive import of food from Ukraine. This is a great achievement from Poland. The fact that this has been resolved at European level is more than expected
he concluded.
MEPs on Tuesday approved by 537 votes to 42 and 38 abstentions a proposal to extend the suspension of import duties, anti-dumping duties and safeguard measures for Ukrainian exports to the European Union for another year amid Russia’s war of aggression.
The tariff suspension applies to fruit and vegetables subject to the entry price system, as well as agricultural products and processed agricultural products subject to tariff quotas.
In an EP vote, PiS members backed the green light for the suspension of EU import duties on Ukrainian agricultural products for another year to support the country’s economy. After him, MEP Patryk Jaki announced that he had “wrongly voted for this solution” and had “submitted a request for correction immediately after the vote”.
The PO members of the European Parliament were in turn divided. Andrzej Halicki, Elżbieta Łukacijewska, Bartosz Arłukowicz, Ewa Kopacz, Jan Olbrycht voted against, but MEPs Jarosław Duda and Danuta Huebner supported the solution, and Janusz Lewandowski and Tomasz Frankowski abstained.
kk/PAP
Source: wPolityce