Czesław Siekierski, Minister of Agriculture of Poland, has said that negotiations on extending liberalised trade in agricultural products with Ukraine should be linked to negotiations on a trade agreement between the EU and South American countries (Mercosur).

Source : Euractiv, as reported by European Pravda

Details : If confirmed, the agreement between the EU and Mercosur and trade benefits for Ukraine will increase the flow of poultry and sugar to the EU market at zero tariff.

However, Poland, which holds the EU presidency this half of the year, is the largest poultry producer in the EU and considers sugar a "sensitive product".

"Combining the negotiations on Ukraine and Mercosur would allow our country to balance the impact of both agreements on domestic agricultural production," Siekierski said.

The minister's demand also has a political aspect. The opposition Law and Justice party is counting on rural votes in the May presidential election, and the government coalition wants to limit the influence of the largest opposition party there.

The agreement on the extension of preferential trade with Ukraine expires in June 2025. European producers of agricultural products, in particular sugar beet, are not satisfied with the existing restrictions, considering them insufficient. They insist on a return to pre-war tariff quotas, although the European Commission has not yet put forward proposals for further trade liberalisation after June.

On 7 January, Siekierski spoke on Polish Radio about the threat from Ukraine, which, if it joined the European Union, would receive most of the EU's subsidies, which could harm Polish farmers.

"During the Polish presidency, we will start discussing the Common Agricultural Policy in a new financial perspective. Ukraine may be included, but we must set specific conditions for trade liberalisation so as not to undermine the stability of the European market," he said.

Background :

• On 13 May 2024, the Council of the European Union finally approved the extension of trade benefits for Ukraine for another year, after a durable and intense negotiation process. Unlike similar decisions of the two previous years, this year, the EU decided to prolong the duty-free trade with Ukraine but with restrictions due to farmers’ protests. A new, automatic safeguard mechanism obliges the European Commission to reintroduce quotas if imports of poultry, eggs, sugar, oats, maize, groats and honey exceed the arithmetic mean of quantities imported in the second half of 2021, in 2022 and in 2023.

• On 23 November 2024, Polish farmers began protesting in Medyka near the border with Ukraine over concerns about the EU signing a free trade agreement with South American countries, but later suspended the protest. During their protests, they also mentioned, among other things, the alleged excessive influx of products from Ukraine.

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