The conditions for renewing the temporary agreement with Ukraine are a massive blow to already extremely weakened agricultural sectors.

Paris, March 8, 2024 – the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament voted to renew the temporary agreement with Ukraine. This liberalization agreement thus provides in particular for the suspension of customs duties and import quotas on Ukrainian agricultural products.

However, the agricultural markets of the European Union are strongly affected by the liberalization of trade with Ukraine. Imported quantities more than doubled for cereals, oilseeds and poultry meat, were multiplied by 6 for eggs and by 20 for sugar. Massive imports of these products, which do not meet European standards, are weighing down our markets.

Representatives of the grain, sugar, poultry, egg and honey sectors shared their concerns and their proposals to reach a compromise that would have made it possible to support the Ukrainian people while preserving the competitiveness of our agricultural operations.

However, just a few weeks after all the political parties took the floor to praise European agriculture, recognize its difficulties and support it, this vote is completely out of step with the commitments made by the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister to respond to the concerns of our agriculture!

The necessary support for Ukraine has never been in question, but the agricultural community cannot bear the disproportionate burden of this trade liberalization alone; and the cereal sector must imperatively be included in the safeguard clauses.

As for the representatives of these agricultural sectors “the European deputies are failing in their duty towards farmers by rejecting potential improvements to the agreement with Ukraine. The farming community cannot understand how their concerns and demands are being ignored. The procedural reasons given cannot be understood: the calendar had been known for a long time; there is no excuse for so blatantly ignoring the concerns of the agricultural sector. »

All eyes are now on the next plenary session in Strasbourg: we are asking for the modification of the European Commission's project, in accordance with what the Agriculture Commission of the European Parliament proposed on February 26.