Ukrainian grain opens a crack in EU trade policy

In the context of the war in European granary like the current one agricultural protectionism occupied several countries Eastern EU. But he didn’t like that Brussels which has already warned that the unilateral veto of several EU countries (currently announced by Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania) on Ukrainian grain “That is not acceptable” because trade is the responsibility of all EU countries. And Poland was not late in responding. Its representative for the EU, Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek, claimed that Poland was in an “extraordinary situation” due to the mass entry cereals of Ukraine, which “justifies extraordinary measures”.

It seems to have happened that 56.3 million euros of agricultural reserve authorized by Brussels to compensate Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian producers who, they say, have been hit by competition from Ukrainian grains that have driven down the prices of locally produced grains. Nor is it the intention of the Community executive to extend these compensatory means to producers Slovakia or Hungary. So they decided circumvent the bilateral agreement reached between the EU and Ukraine on the basis of which customs duties on Ukrainian products were abolished as of June last year in order to support farmers in that warring country.

What perhaps upset Kiev the most was that Poland, its major EU and NATO ally, was the first to veto the passage of 30 Ukrainian products, including grains, sugar, fruit, vegetables, meat or eggs. Namely, according to Efe, the head of the Polish government Mateusz Morawiecki met on Monday with the vice-president of the Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Swiridenko in Warsaw, in negotiations in which his ministers of agriculture, the Polish Robert Telus and the Ukrainian Mykola Solsky, also participated. In order to quell protests by Polish farmers that led to the departure of the country’s agriculture minister, Ukraine offered a few days ago to limit the amount of grain exported via Poland, but Warsaw decided to stop the grain trade in its tracks. and many other products.

While community government They said that they have already requested information from the competent authorities to check to what extent a country can unilaterally make such a decision. “We are not very familiar with the legal basis for such measures, but of course we are in contact with the authorities to try to understand them,” a spokeswoman for Europa Press said at a press conference. Executive Community AgricultureMiriam García Ferrer, after the Polish and Hungarian governments announced a veto on Ukrainian grains until June 30.

What the governments of these countries have done is on the side of their farmers. They have been protesting for weeks because it is a good part Ukrainian grain which circulates through open corridors of solidarity to enable exit to third countries remains within their states. His objection is that, having a price lower than grow in their territoriesit ends up devaluing the national product.

Before executing the veto, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary they asked the EU together with Romania and Bulgaria, recovery of tariffs to defend their interests. The issue was also discussed at the end of January at a meeting where the 27 asked Brussels to study different support measures for the countries affected excess imports from Ukraine. This request led to the EU activating EUR 56.3 million in aid from the agricultural reserve to compensate Bulgarian, Polish and Romanian farmers. An extension of the support to reach manufacturers is currently being studied Slovakia and Hungary.

But at the same time, Brussels has an extension on the table abolition of customs duties which started in June 2022. In any case, the idea is to include a safeguard measure to protect the EU market if necessary.

At this point, most cereals produced in Ukraine is exported through the port of mar black, from where it reaches deficit countries such as Spain. The problem is that it depends on Russia. 10% of agricultural exports go through Poland, while another 6% go through Hungary. For this reason, Ukraine is now looking for alternatives to sell its grain. The problem is that the uncertainty of Ukrainian farmers about releasing products to the market leads to a decrease in cultivated area, and thus the grain available to countries such as Spain and Portugal. This could affect the price consumers pay for food in the medium term.