The European Commission is considering a review of open trade with Ukraine due to complaints from EU farmers. What are the prospects for the agreement?

The European Commission (EC) is considering revising the open trade regime with Ukraine due to complaints from several European Union (EU) countries about the negative impact of this agreement on EU farmers, Euractiv reports, citing information from "Kommersant". It is noted that in September, Romanian grain producers expressed concerns that the influx of Ukrainian grain threatens their financial stability, and similar complaints have recently been received from other neighboring countries, including Poland.

The temporary Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Ukraine was signed in 2022 and is valid until June 2023. Within this agreement, customs duties on a certain list of goods from Ukraine were abolished, tariff quotas were suspended, and anti-dumping duties on Ukrainian products were lifted.

According to Euractiv, delegations from Poland, Hungary, and Romania have demanded the elimination of the negative impact of Ukrainian imports on their countries and some have requested compensation. They also supported the idea of revising the customs agreement regarding some grain crops imported from Ukraine. The portal also reports that the EC recognized the need to address the issue faced by farmers due to this agreement. The discussion is scheduled for the EU-Ukraine summit on February 3.

By now, more than 18 million tons of grain and other foodstuffs have already been shipped from Ukrainian ports as part of the "grain deal," according to Ukrainian authorities, who have also expressed their intention to expand the agreement to include steel.