Good job Brussels, we can only congratulate you!
French producers will also join next week's joint Eastern European farmers' protest, as the unlimited entry of Ukrainian food into the EU is already causing huge market problems in Western Europe. Brussels' proposal would be an even more serious blow to farmers than before, and Russia is already benefiting from the excessive solidarity.
It is already discussing the proposal of the European Parliament and the Council of Brussels, which would suspend the tariffs and quotas limiting the import of Ukrainian food into the EU for another year. In response to weeks of unabated protest by producers in the European Union
the European Commission has supplemented the draft with a clause regulating the import of poultry meat, eggs and sugar, but according to the largest European producer interest groups, this would cause Brussels even more damage to these sectors than before.
Copa-Cogeca, the largest association for the protection of interests of EU farmers and agricultural companies, as well as the interest representatives of the affected sectors, drew attention to the fact that the draft restricts the import of poultry, eggs and sugar, but the restriction would only come into effect if if the level of imports would reach the level of 2022/2023.
Brussels continues to ruin EU farmers
Brussels, with its ostensible measure intended to appease producers, would therefore continue to allow at least as much agricultural goods from Ukraine to arrive in the EU without restrictions as caused the serious market disturbances. In addition, the European interest groups do not understand why this clause allowing restrictions does not apply to cereals. Copa-Cogeca also pointed out
as a result of Ukrainian dumping, the purchase prices offered to Eastern European farmers fell by at least 40 percent, while production costs rose sharply in the last two years. In addition, demand has fallen so much that, despite the significant price reduction, there are hardly any buyers for the much better quality European agricultural products.
The advocates also pointed out that the situation is unsustainable not only in Eastern European countries bordering Ukraine: the presence of Ukrainian food is already causing serious problems in Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Despite the market difficulties affecting thousands of economies, Copa-Cogeca indicated that the solidarity with Ukraine is important, but Brussels must develop a real market protection strategy, but for now there is no real intention to do so.
Russia is already benefiting from EU solidarity that has gone too far
Copa-Cogeca also pointed out
exaggerated EU solidarity is now also profitable for Moscow. The reason for this is that African and Middle Eastern countries, which were the primary markets for Ukrainian agricultural products before the war, now import raw materials essential for food supply from Russia, as most of the Ukrainian grain already finds buyers in the European Union.
In the past few days, it has become clear that the amount of grain transported from Ukraine on the Black Sea has already reached the pre-war level, which means that the further maintenance of the solidarity corridors operated by the EU has become redundant. Despite the fact that Ukraine is once again shipping produce from its seaports in accordance with its capacities, the trade relations that had been established for decades have not been restored from the shipments.
Egypt has already signed a grain delivery contract with Russia this year, but other African and Middle Eastern countries have also contracted for Russian grain. As a result, this year Moscow has significantly increased the amount of raw materials that can be exported from the country by several million tons, and by involving new production areas, it is also increasing the amount of grain intended for export. It means that
Brussels considers the interests of Ukraine more important than anything else, and the solidarity with Kiev will not only completely ruin the EU's farmers, but also increase Moscow's revenues. And this is in no way in the interest of Ukraine, which is increasingly setting itself up for defense against the Russian army.
The French sided with the Hungarian farmers
French producers will also join the large-scale farmers' demonstration organized by the agricultural chambers of Eastern European countries for February 22, according to Euractiv, the two largest French grain-growing interest groups. They pointed out that EU decision-makers still did not understand that their decisions put Europe's food self-sufficiency at risk.
A joint demonstration was organized by the Chambers of Agriculture of the Visegrad countries and the representations of Latvia and Lithuania for February 22
- announced the National Chamber of Agrarian Economy. A large-scale joint demonstration by Eastern European countries will take place on the Slovakian-Polish-Czech border. The protest was initiated by the Czech Chamber of Agriculture.
The producers call on the decision-makers in Brussels not to destroy Europe's agriculture, to end the impossibility of European farmers.
Featured image: Tractors at a farmer's demonstration against the decision in Brussels on September 15 to cancel the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain near the Hungarian-Ukrainian border crossing in Záhony on September 17, 2023
Photo: Attila Balázs / Source: MTI
