EU agreed to extend free trade for Ukraine with possibility of restrictions
Photo: EC President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel (Getty Images)
Key institutions of the European Union have agreed to extend duty-free trade with Ukraine for another year. The decision includes an option for restrictions, according to Twitter (X) of Radio Svoboda correspondent Rikard Jozwiak.
According to him, the extension of free trade with Ukraine until June 2025 was supported by the EU Council, the European Commission, and the European Parliament.
This decision also includes a safeguard mechanism, under which quotas and tariffs can be reintroduced for particularly sensitive agricultural products, namely poultry meat, eggs, sugar, oats, maize, cereals, and honey.
The activation of the safeguard mechanism will depend on the import volumes observed during the period from mid-2021 to the end of 2023.
What preceeded
Prior to this, on March 20, the European Parliament preliminarily extended the liberalization of trade with Ukraine until June 2025. This means that quotas and tariffs will not apply to our country.
However, the decision of the European Parliament included a safeguard mechanism.
On March 27, ambassadors of the European Union supported the respective decision.
