The European Commission estimates that under the new agreement between Ukraine and the EU on duty-free trade, Kyiv will lose €86 million compared to the second half of 2021.
The draft of the new agreement on duty-free trade with the EU
Radio Freedom, citing anonymous interlocutors in the diplomatic circles of the European Union, reports that the Belgian presidency of the EU Council has updated the draft agreement, which provides for the extension of duty-free trade with Ukraine.
The project partially took into account the requirements of Poland and France - an updated base period that will be taken into account when determining the volume of supplies of Ukrainian agricultural products.
It is suggested to focus not only on 2022 and 2023, but also on the second half of 2021.
Ukraine opposed it, and it was supported by a number of EU countries.
According to the estimates of the European Commission, announced at a closed meeting, Ukraine will lose €86 million if the second half of 2021 is also taken as the basis of calculations.
The project was supported by Poland and France, as well as Italy, Hungary, and Austria. In particular, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, the Baltic states, and Luxembourg oppose the amendments.
Agreement on duty-free trade with the EU
On June 5, 2024, the EU measures to liberalize trade with Ukraine, which were introduced due to the invasion of the Russian Federation, will expire.
The new agreement will provide for emergency braking for particularly sensitive categories of agricultural products - poultry meat, eggs, sugar, oats, corn, cereals, honey.
On March 25, EU ambassadors discussed the new agreement, but did not approve it. The Belgian presidency postponed the approval until March 27.
