“You have to find a balance. » Emmanuel Macron expressed, Friday March 22, his wish to “reopen” the European agreement reached on Wednesday aimed at renewing the customs exemption granted to Ukraine while capping certain agricultural imports, restrictions that Paris considers insufficient.
“Today, Ukraine does not produce according to European rules. We gave it a facility linked to the war, but we are in the process of eroding the acceptability of Ukraine [in European public opinion] and of Ukrainian producers everywhere on the European market because it is not just,” he denounced after a summit in Brussels.
According to him, “[Ukrainian] production has soared,” “destabilizing” the European market, “especially in recent months.” “We have volumes which have multiplied by five or ten in certain categories [of products],” said Emmanuel Macron.
Import capping
The European Union (EU) granted an exemption from customs duties to Ukraine in spring 2022 to support the economy of the country at war. Member states and MEPs agreed on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday to renew this exemption for one year, from June, but with restrictions.
Under pressure from European farmers, particularly Polish ones, who denounce unfair competition, the agreement plans to cap imports of poultry, eggs, sugar, corn and oats from Ukraine into the EU at 2022-2023 volumes, levels at -above which tariffs will be reimposed.
However, the agreement does not include wheat and barley in this mechanism, as demanded by MEPs and agricultural organizations. The text must still be formally approved by the European Parliament and member states to enter into force.
“Our hope is that we can reopen the text in the coming hours and find an agreement,” declared Emmanuel Macron. He wanted “soft wheat in particular (…) to be included in these safeguard measures”, and that the reference period for the caps also covers the year 2021, before the war.
“We want Ukraine and Ukrainian producers to be able to continue exporting in a more difficult context. » But sometimes, “it is producers or large European groups who will take advantage of this agreement to go and produce in Ukraine and re-import with lower production rules on our soil”, he denounced, castigating “a diversion” of the customs exemption.
