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OPINION (COM(2024)0050 – C90021/2024 – 2024/0028(COD))

On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on temporary trade-liberalisation measures supplementing trade concessions applicable to Ukrainian products under the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part

AGRI-AD-759061

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development · Rapporteur: Juozas Olekas

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The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development proposes amendments to the proposed regulation on temporary trade-liberalisation measures for Ukrainian products. It wants safeguards extended to all Ukrainian imports, faster Commission decisions, and lower trigger volumes for cereals, oilseeds, honey, eggs, poultry and sugar. It asks for monthly monitoring and reporting, Ukrainian authorities to determine and document the destination of consignments, and a Commission report by 31 May 2024 on imports not covered by the safeguard article. It also wants the annual report to assess social impact, cover a restructuring programme for Ukrainian agriculture and agri-food, and report twice a year on Ukraine's DCFTA obligations and approximation to EU standards.

Committee position. The committee calls on the Committee on International Trade to take its amendments into account. It proposes extending safeguards to all Ukrainian imports, lowering trigger volumes and shortening deadlines, and adding monitoring, destination documentation and reporting duties.

Key points

  1. Recital 4 would add that trade liberalisation must preserve the livelihood of European producers, among others in countries near Ukraine.
  2. A new recital states that safeguard measures should not become a barrier to future economic and market integration but serve to create balanced trade.
  3. Preferential arrangements would also be conditional on Ukraine's close administrative cooperation with the Union and with member states where bilateral solutions exist, to prevent major destabilisation of the internal market.
  4. Ukraine's abstention from new trade restrictions would be justified only in the war context and in mutually agreed cases.
  5. An automatic safeguard would cover cereals, eggs, poultry and sugar, triggered when import volumes exceed the arithmetic mean of 2021 and 2022, with adequate safeguard measures for other products.
  6. The Commission would have to monitor sugar exports monthly from entry into force, given high import volumes in the first half of 2024.
  7. The Commission should consider a restructuring programme for Ukraine's agricultural sector and agri-food industry, compatible with EU accession and Ukraine remaining a major world exporter.
  8. The Commission should propose a comprehensive import and export licence system with Ukraine, a permanent package of measures, investment in storage and logistics, and use refundable duties to fund the war effort.
  9. The Commission would have to give a reasoned opinion within four weeks of a member state's request to suspend preferences, instead of four months.
  10. Safeguard measures could apply to all products from Ukraine, and the Commission could use Ukraine Facility funds to buy Ukrainian agricultural products for humanitarian food assistance, including storage in the Union.
  11. Monitoring results would be sent to member states and Parliament every month; assessments would conclude within two months; provisional measures would be adopted within 10 days and last no more than 150 days.
  12. Trigger volumes would cover a longer list of cereals, oilseeds, honey, eggs, poultry and sugar, based on 2021 and 2022 averages; new tariff-rate quotas would apply, maize would move only under customs transit, and Ukraine would be promoted to export to markets outside the EU.

Who is affected

  • EU agricultural producers, especially in countries near Ukraine, whose livelihoods the amendments say must be preserved.
  • Ukrainian exporters of cereals, oilseeds, honey, eggs, poultry and sugar, facing lower safeguard triggers and new tariff-rate quotas.
  • Ukrainian authorities, made responsible for determining and documenting the destination of consignments before entry into the EU.
  • The Commission, required to report monthly, twice a year and by 31 May 2024, and to act within shorter deadlines.

Figures and deadlines

  • Reasoned opinion within four weeks of a member state request, instead of four months.
  • Monitoring results to member states and Parliament every month, starting from entry into force.
  • Assessment concluded within two months of its launch.
  • Provisional measures adopted within 10 days after a request and lasting no more than 150 days.
  • Trigger period 6 June to 31 December 2024, with volumes compared to the arithmetic mean of 2021 and 2022.
  • Tariff-rate quota from 1 January 2025 equal to five twelfths of the arithmetic mean or the suspended quota, whichever is lower.
  • Period 1 January to 5 June 2025, with volumes compared to five twelfths of the 2021 and 2022 average.
  • Commission report to Parliament and the Council by 31 May 2024 on monthly import flows.