The European Parliament approved the continuation of duty-free trade for Ukraine

The members of the European Parliament voted for the restoration of trade liberalization with Moldova and Ukraine. At the same time, guarantees for European farmers were strengthened in the event of a surge in Ukrainian production.

This is stated on the website of the European Parliament.

On January 31, 2024, the European Commission presented a proposal to suspend duties and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU for one more year — from June 6, 2024 to June 5, 2025. MEPs supported it by 347 votes, 117 were against and another 99 abstained from answering. It must then be approved by the EU Council.

At the same time, this law empowers the European Commission to quickly respond to any significant disruptions in the European market or in the markets of any individual EU country due to Ukrainian imports. In particular, the possibility of emergency braking is foreseen for particularly sensitive groups of products, namely poultry, eggs and sugar. If imports of these products exceed the average volumes of 2022 and 2023, the tariffs will be implemented again.

• Ukraine intensified cooperation with the European Union in 2014 after the victory of the Revolution of Dignity. In the same year, the Council and the European Parliament simultaneously approved the Association Agreement of Ukraine with the EU. This agreement provides for the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, which has provided Ukrainian businesses with preferential access to the EU market since 2016, and the agreement entered into force in its entirety on September 1, 2017.
• On February 28, 2022, four days after the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine applied to join the European Union under a special procedure. On June 17, the European Commission recommended granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership, and the country also received the possibility of duty-free trade with the EU. In June 2023, duty-free trade for Ukraine was extended for another year — until June 5, 2024.
• Due to farmersʼ protests, the EU temporarily limited the supply of some types of agricultural products from Ukraine last year. Some countries, in particular Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, announced unilateral restrictions on the import of Ukrainian grain.