Among the 131 MPs who voted against it, as many as 33 (i.e. one fourth) were Poles from different factions: the opposition Law and Justice party and the governing groups Civic Platform and the Polish People's Party. A few but sincere friends of Ukraine from the Left, the PO and the Third Way, including former Prime Minister Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, voted in favor.
This time, the text of the agreement provides for several "safeguards" for the export of Ukrainian agricultural products, including the use of quotas for poultry, eggs, oats, cereals, corn, and honey. The quotas are measured by the average exports of these products from the second half of the "pre-war" year 2021 and the war years of 2022-23.
In addition, the European Commission can stop imports of other agricultural products from Ukraine if there are serious problems in the EU market of one or more member states due to Ukrainian exports. This entry appeared at the insistence of Poland, Hungary, and our other western neighbors.
The agreement must be finally approved by the European Council at its next meeting. Hopefully, it will be positive, because otherwise, starting in June of this year, trade between Ukraine and the EU will return to the regime of the Free Trade Agreement, which stipulates small quotas for duty-free exports of Ukrainian goods to the EU.
The text of this year's EU decision went through a difficult path of coordination, discussion, and compromise due to the farmers' strikes that swept across Europe in February. Western farmers protested against the European Green Deal, while their colleagues from the central part of the Old Continent, particularly Poland, added a demand to "stop the uncontrolled influx" of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products.
The final result of the protests is the kind of agreement that the European Parliament has just tested. And the European Commission's commitment that starting next June, trade with Ukraine will be conducted in accordance with the Free Trade Agreement. Donald Tusk's government particularly insisted on this decision and got its way, which should have satisfied Polish politicians and farmers. However, it did not.
Several checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border continue to be blocked, although there are no reasons for the blockade at all. Ukrainian grain has not been entering Poland for a year because Warsaw has imposed an embargo on it, in violation of international, European and bilateral agreements.
Prime Minister Tusk announced that his government will ask the European Council to extend the embargo on Ukrainian agricultural products until June 2025. The reason for this is unknown. The official reason is a "threat" to Polish agriculture from the Ukrainian agricultural sector, although even Polish experts claim that there is no such threat.
If we add to this the actual halt in the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through Poland, the conclusion is clear: despite assurances of friendship and assistance to Ukraine, Poland continues to wage a trade war against Ukraine and may actually block our country's integration with the EU. Our task is to change this and have Poland as our biggest ally in European integration.
About the author. Mykola Kniazhytskyi, journalist, member of the Ukrainian parliament.
The editors don't always share the opinions expressed by the authors of blogs or columns.