On Monday in Luxembourg, EU interior ministers have taken a decision on a position that the EU is interested in in the EU association committee – Ukraine in terms of reducing or removing duties to various agro -food products from Ukraine, such as dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and meat products. This is informed by TASR.
The EU Council’s decision follows the preliminary agreement to review the deepened and comprehensive free trade zone (DCFTA) between the EU and Ukraine achieved by the European Commission (EC) and Ukraine, June 30, in order to create a long -term, predictable and reciprocal commercial frame in a wider context of Ukraine’s accession process.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Danish Lars Lokke Rasmussen On behalf of the country to the President of the EU Council in the media report, he stated that This decision confirms the multilateral support of the EU for Ukraine after three years of unprovoked and unjustified aggression of Russia.
“We help Ukraine militarily and financially, but we must also help it support the liberalization of trade. Both EU and Ukraine will benefit from the removal of duties, which will lead to permanent economic stability, permanent business relations and further integration of Ukraine with the Union, ”explained Rasmussen.
The agreed position of Member States will strengthen the business flows between the EU and Ukraine and ensure that Ukraine’s access to the single market is conditioned by its gradual alignment with the EU production standards In the field of good living conditions of animals, pesticides and veterinary drugs. It also takes into account the specific needs of certain EU agricultural sectors by introducing a protective mechanism that any party can activate in the event of a market disruption.
The EU position also ensures that access to the single market for the most sensitive products such as sugar, poultry, eggs, wheat, corn and honey remains more limited and more gradual. Full liberalization of imports will only be considered for certain insensitive products such as milk and dairy products.
Upon accepting the position of the EU Council, the final decision will be taken by the EU -Ukraine Association Committee, which meets in a composition for trade, in the process of review under the wording of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine. The aim of this process is to speed up and extend the removal of tariffs in the trade between the EU and Ukraine. The Association of Association between the EU and Ukraine was signed in 2014 and came into force on 1 September 2017.
