Media: EU Commission sees no negative impact of Ukraine's agriculture exports on European markets

The European Commission is not seeing significant negative impacts of Ukraine's agricultural exports on European markets, Ukrinform reported on Nov. 29, citing an official of the Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DR AGRI).

The Commission is monitoring the volumes, price dynamics, and import prices of Ukrainian produce at both the national and EU levels, said Pierre Bascou, the director of DR AGRI's Sustainable Development and Income Support.

The EU's executive arm continues to develop the so-called solidarity lanes, transit routes for Ukrainian exports instituted in March 2022, Bascou said during talks with the European Parliament's agriculture committee.

According to the European Commission's website, the solidarity lanes have already facilitated over 60 million metric tons of Ukraine's agricultural exports, as well as exports of over 48 million metric tons of other goods, such as ores, iron, steel, or wood.

The EU-instituted transit routes also allowed Ukraine to import nearly 34 million metric tons of goods.

During the discussion, some MEPs raised concerns about the influx of Ukrainian grain to their countries and the fallout on their farmers.

Spanish ports are overflowing with cheap grain both from Ukraine and Russia at "incredibly low prices," threatening domestic producers, said Mazaly Aguilar, the vice president of the agriculture committee.

Ukraine is one of the world's leading grain producers, and its exports to Europe have caused disputes with several EU members.

The EU instituted the import ban on select agricultural products from Ukraine in May at the request of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria, who feared that the influx of cheaper Ukrainian products would pressure their farmers.

After most of these countries threatened to continue the ban past its Sept. 15 expiration date, Ukraine proposed a system of permits to regulate grain trade.