We protest against the double standards imposed on Hungarian farmers

The EP’s International Trade Committee yesterday discussed the prolongation of the autonomous trade measures, i.e., tariff and quota liberalisation for Ukraine. Fidesz MEP Enikő Győri pointed out: “We must support our Eastern neighbour, however, due to the malfunctioning EU solidarity lanes, the Ukrainian cereals got stuck within the Union’s territory, causing serious market issues for the farmers of the Member States on the Eastern border, including Hungary.”

Even though Brussels recognises the difficulties of the Member States concerned, it does not activate the safeguard measures, as they can be triggered only in case of a negative impact on the EU as a whole. A solution would be to provide targeted agricultural support but according to Commissioner Wojciechowski’s announcement three Member States out of the six concerned countries, namely Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic will not benefit from the Crisis Reserve: “The solidarity lanes are not working properly, i.e. Brussels cannot ensure that Ukrainian cereals reach the designated third countries, most of which are poor. It is totally unacceptable that producers in some Member States receive EU compensation for their losses while others do not.”

The MEP called on the Commission to “allow the activation of the safeguard mechanism even if the problem is regional. Stop discrimination and restore the original purpose of the solidarity lanes, which was to allow Ukrainian products to reach Africa and the Middle East. This would avoid Ukrainian goods being trapped in the internal market and causing problems for producers in neighbouring Member States.”