European Parliament makes concessions to European farmers: list of sensitive Ukrainian agricultural products to be broadened, quotas to be based on 2021-2023 reference data

MOSCOW. March 14 (Interfax) - The European Parliament decided at a plenary session on Wednesday to grant the request of European farmers, amend the European Commission's proposal on trade liberalization for Ukraine, to broaden the list of sensitive products subject to restrictions, and to rely on 2021-2022-2023 reference data in setting duty-free import quotas, Ukrainian media said, citing the Polish media outlet farmer.pl.

"The European Parliament wants greater restrictions in the agreement on duty-free trade with Ukraine. It also wants to apply the proposed restrictions to sugar, poultry, eggs, honey, corn, wheat, oats and barley. The quotas will be based on the data from the past three years, rather than two," the media quoted polskieradio24.pl correspondent Beata Plomecka as saying on a social network.

The Copa-Cogeca union of European agricultural organizations has lauded the European Parliament's decision and the changed approach to regulation of autonomous trade measures.

"We welcome the support to the EU farming community shown today by MEPs. The amendments put forward by most of the political groups, introduce an improvement to the reference period (2021/2022/2023), although 2021/2022 would have been preferable," Copa-Cogeca said in a press release.

It also welcomed the inclusion of cereals and honey in the automatic triggering system of the safeguard measures, as it addresses the wider concern of different member states that are increasingly feeling the effects of trade liberalization.

As reported, the European Parliament voted for negotiations with the Council of the European Union on extending trade liberalization for Ukraine until June 5, 2025.