European Parliament Approves Trade Liberalization with Ukraine

The European Parliament has voted in favour of lifting trade barriers on imports from Ukraine to the EU for one year. This is how the EU wants to support the Ukrainian economy in the wake of the Russian invasion. The European Parliament has supported the temporary lifting of trade barriers on the import of all Ukrainian goods to the EU. This decision was supported at a plenary session in Brussels on Thursday, May 19, by 515 MEPs, 32 were against, while 11 others abstained, according to a correspondent of DW. Now the regulation on trade liberalization with Ukraine must be approved by the EU Council. It is expected to come into force in June. After that the simplified trade regime will remain in force for one year. This decision envisages cancellation of duties on Ukrainian industrial products for which they are still in force, the system of entrance prices on fruits and vegetables, as well as tariff quotas on duty-free import of agricultural products. In other words, all Ukrainian goods may be imported into the EU without payment of duties. And anti-dumping duties introduced on Ukrainian goods during this year will not be levied even after the end of the regulation. The war has a detrimental effect on the Ukrainian economy “Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine from February 24, 2022 has a profoundly negative impact on Ukraine's ability to trade with the rest of the world, both because of the destruction of production facilities and the inaccessibility of significant part of means of transportation due to blocked access to the Black Sea,” the draft regulation notes. The EU believes that the abolition of trade barriers should soften the impact of the war on the Ukrainian economy. The regulation may be suspended if Kyiv introduces new trade barriers for goods from the EU, except in cases where such a step is clearly justified in the context of the war. The European Parliament introduced two amendments to the draft regulation proposed by the European Commission. One removes the eight-week notice period for national parliaments. This will allow the regulation to enter into force more quickly. DW