Negotiations ongoing: EU postpones decision on duty-free trade with Ukraine
Photo: The decision on EU-Ukraine duty-free trade has been postponed (GettyImages)
The European Union has postponed the approval of the free trade agreement with Ukraine, which was scheduled for today, until Wednesday, March 27, according to RFM24.
The approval of the free trade agreement with Ukraine has been postponed due to the need to reconcile certain nuances of the agreement.
In particular, France and Poland, with the support of countries bordering Ukraine, want to amend the agreement to further restrict the import of agricultural products.
Belgium's representatives also claim that the postponement of the agreement's approval is due to many countries still being undecided about how they will vote.
The leadership of the EU Council has decided to give a little more time to make a final decision.
At the same time, diplomats from France assure that the agreement's postponement means that "negotiations are ongoing" and that the text is not ready for approval.
Extension of Ukraine-EU duty-free trade
The day before, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the European Parliament and the European Council had preliminarily agreed to extend the import of Ukrainian goods duty-free and quota-free until June 2025. The agreements are expected to be adopted in April.
It is worth noting that this temporary suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU will be extended for another year until June 5, 2025, to support Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression.
Earlier, Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative Taras Kachka stated that Ukraine is ready to accept new restrictions on its trade with the EU to defuse the sharp political dispute with Poland but also calls on the bloc to ban the import of Russian grain.
