“The government of Donald Tusk has abandoned demands regarding restrictions on wheat imports from Ukraine. Not only do they not implement an embargo, but they also plan to abolish the current restrictions,” Law and Justice MP Paweł Jabłoński wrote on social media. European Union ambassadors agreed on Wednesday on a new compromise on trade with Ukraine.
Despite farmers’ protests across Poland and talks with the government, the Prime Minister is not fighting for their well-being in the context of Ukrainian grain imports. Ukrainian producers are not subject to the same restrictive EU regulations as farmers from EU countries. The people of Tusk are dragging out the matter and not introducing any restrictions on the Polish-Ukrainian border. A PiS MP draws attention to this in a post on the X platform.
It is worth noting before the holidays: the government of Donald Tusk has abandoned demands regarding restrictions on the import of wheat from Ukraine. Not only are they not implementing an embargo, but they also plan to lift current restrictions
– Jabłoński emphasized.
Some media try to create success by extending the reference period by six months. The problem is that the years 2022-2023 – when imports increased dramatically – continue to serve as reference years
– wrote a PiS politician, explaining that “this means that the Polish food market is flooded with imports from Ukraine.”
EU decision on trade liberalization with Ukraine
Jabłoński drew attention to the EU Council’s decision to agree on the conditions for comprehensive trade liberalization with Ukraine. The Belgian Presidency of the EU Council also announced on Wednesday that “EU ambassadors have agreed to a new compromise on the extension of autonomous trade measures (ATM) for Ukraine, ensuring a balanced approach between support for Ukraine and the protection of the agricultural markets in the EU.”
The agreement partially takes into account the demands of Poland, France and the European Parliament – the reference period that will be taken into account when calculating import quotas will be counted from June 2021 to the end of 2023. This is a compromise because Warsaw , Paris and the European Parliament called for the whole of 2021 to be included
The deal now goes back to the European Parliament, which is expected to vote on the changes at its April plenary session.
The EU’s new duty-free trade deal with Ukraine will enter into force on June 6 and will last for one year. The agreement was the subject of long work and renegotiations. This was necessary after the EP voted in plenary in mid-March, tabled amendments to the draft and referred it to additional negotiations between the EP and the Council.
The negotiators of the European Parliament and the EU Council reached an agreement on March 20 on expanding the list of products subject to import restrictions from Ukraine – grains and honey have been added to eggs, poultry and sugar – but, contrary to demands of the European Parliament has not extended the period taken into account when setting quotas. That is why France and Poland, at the level of permanent representatives to the EU, built a blocking minority and won further negotiations.
Sikorski about imports from Ukraine
On Wednesday, the head of the Foreign Ministry also defended the interests of Ukrainian farmers, citing Brussels and blaming the PiS government.
Radosław Sikorski explained that “Ukraine under the previous government obtained an act of solidarity from the entire European Union in the form of temporary admission to the European Union’s internal market when (Vladimir) Putin blocked Ukrainian exports through the Black Sea. ”
Ukraine won the battle for the Western Black Sea and today ships carrying grain sail from Odessa via the Bosphorus to traditional Ukrainian markets in Africa and China, so the time of this temporary privilege is slowly passing.
– said Sikorski.
Import of Ukrainian products
On the same day, the Minister of Agriculture explained that “bilateral talks with Ukraine on food trade are difficult.”
The Ukrainian side is very keen to maintain the conditions for trade liberalization proposed by the European Commission, believing that this is important help for Ukraine, which we must agree with. We at the Ministry of Agriculture are talking about the need to separate humanitarian aid, military aid and economic support as a whole from such a sectoral approach.
– said Czesław Siekierski.
When asked about talks on licensing the import of products from Ukraine, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development explained that licensing is a form of trade in which licenses are issued by the Ukrainian side.
We have had far-reaching discussions, but we also have significant disagreements, because the Ukrainian side only talks about licensing the products covered by the embargo, and we would also like to discuss other products, for example, raspberries. The Ukrainians respond that they will then license Polish frozen vegetables
– he answered.
Although farmers have been mobilizing to protest and talk to the government for some time to advance their demands, the people of Tusk are still not taking any specific action to promote the Polish food market and the interests of Polish producers.
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X/PAP/wPolityce.pl/bjg
Source: wPolityce
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.