Agricultural crisis: European farmers denounce “a half-response” from the EU

Europe 1 with AFP 4:10 p.m., March 28, 2024

The agreement concluded by the Twenty-Seven to tighten restrictions on imports from Ukraine, but without capping wheat, is "a half-response" which does not provide a real solution, six agricultural organizations denounced on Thursday. the EU. “This half-response (...) will only provide very limited relief to our producers,” responded Copa-Cogeca, the organization of the majority European unions, and five sectoral federations. Without further modification, the situation "will remain unsustainable for farmers", warned Copa-Cogeca and several organizations representing the sugar, beet, cereals/oilseeds, poultry and eggs sectors. 

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“Corrective measures” in the event of “significant disruptions” 

The ambassadors of the Member States adopted on Wednesday a slightly modified version of a text renewing for one year, from June, the customs exemption granted since 2022 to Ukraine, by attaching it to restrictions. European farmers accuse the influx of Ukrainian products of lowering local prices, and of constituting "unfair" competition for failure to respect the same standards.

According to the agreement, which will now be debated with MEPs, Brussels will be able to quickly adopt "remedial measures" in the event of "significant disruptions" in the market, including in a single country. Above all, imports of poultry, eggs, sugar, corn, honey and oats exempt from customs duties would be capped at average volumes imported over the period covering the second half of 2021 and 2022-2023, levels above which tariffs would automatically be imposed. reimposed.

An extended period

The Twenty-Seven agreed to extend this reference period to the second half of 2021, instead of only the years 2022 and 2023 as initially planned, which will de facto lead to lowering the level of the cap. An extension demanded by several states, including France, arguing that the volumes imported in 2022-2023 were already massive. On the other hand, the capping mechanism still does not include soft wheat and barley, as several countries - France, Poland, Hungary - wanted in unison with agricultural organizations and MEPs.

The adopted text ultimately only contains a "reinforced" commitment to activate safeguard measures in the event of market imbalance, particularly for cereals. Agricultural organizations are still demanding the inclusion of wheat and barley in the automatic capping mechanism, and the extension to the full year 2021 of the reference period for calculating capped volumes. They are also alarmed to see the current compromise serving in the future as a basis for a future renegotiation of the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine.