The EU Council announced on Wednesday that the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) of the European Union has agreed on the Council’s negotiating mandate to extend for another year the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian and Moldovan exports to the EU.
“By agreeing to renew these measures, we demonstrate our continued support for Ukraine and Moldova, while protecting the internal market from excessive increases in imports of certain sensitive agricultural products,” commented Aja Labib, Foreign Minister of Belgium, which holds the EU Council presidency, on the agreement of the Permanent Representatives.
The Council communiqué explains that the two legislative proposals that member states will discuss with the European Parliament are aimed at extending the suspension of import duties and quotas for another year: from June 6, 2024 to June 5, 2025 for Ukraine and from July 25, 2024 to July 24, 2025 for Moldova – provided that “the protection of sensitive agricultural products is simultaneously enhanced by strengthening safeguards” already included in the relevant existing regulations.
Brussels explains that “by renewing these measures, the EU will continue to support and stimulate trade flows from Ukraine to the EU and the rest of the world, and will contribute to creating conditions for the expansion of economic and trade relations leading to the gradual integration of Ukraine into the EU’s internal structure.”
As for Moldova, these measures are intended to “help preserve the conditions necessary to enable Moldova to continue its trade relations with the EU and with the rest of the world through the EU,” the EU Council said.
The European Commission (EC) announced on Tuesday the allocation of €83 million in “initial humanitarian aid” to Ukraine and Moldova for 2024.
“To help the most vulnerable people (…) in 2024, the EU will provide an initial €75 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine and €8 million to Moldova. And we will continue to closely monitor the changing needs on the ground to respond to the most urgent humanitarian challenges,” said Janez Lenarčič, EC Member for Crisis Management.
The European Commission’s communiqué explains that €75 million for Ukraine has been allocated for humanitarian projects “to provide emergency assistance, including access to basic needs such as shelter, protection services, drinking water, education and healthcare.”
Humanitarian projects for Moldova worth €8 million provide “targeted assistance to the most vulnerable populations, including humanitarian cash assistance to meet basic needs, protection and health care.”
The European Commission said that with this new funding, it has allocated a total of €926 million for humanitarian assistance programs for the civilian population of Ukraine after February 2022. Of these funds, €860 million is earmarked for humanitarian programs inside Ukraine and €66 million for support to Ukrainian refugees in neighboring Moldova.
At an informal meeting in Brussels, EU defense ministers agreed to fulfill their promise to supply 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said.
“We have just agreed with the EU defense ministers that we will fulfill our promise to supply 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine. By the end of March, we will have delivered more than 0.5 million shells. More than 1.1 million shells by the end of 2024. The EU’s production capacity will increase to 1.5 million by the end of 2024,” Pevkur wrote on social media site X.
Last spring, the EU countries jointly agreed to send one million shells to Ukraine by March 2024 to repel Russia’s military aggression.
27 EU leaders have agreed on an additional €50 billion package of support for Ukraine within the EU budget, European Council President Charles Michel said.
“We have an agreement. We have unity. All 27 leaders have agreed on an additional €50 billion package of support for Ukraine within the EU budget. This provides sustainable, long-term and predictable funding for Ukraine. The EU is taking the lead and responsibility in supporting Ukraine; we know what is at stake,” Michel wrote on social media platform X on Thursday.
Ukraine has received confirmation of funding for participation in 10 joint projects with EU member states under the EU4Health program in the amount of EUR 4.5 million.
According to the Ministry of Health, the program is being implemented within the framework of an agreement between Ukraine and the EU concluded in 2022 on Ukraine’s participation in the EU4Health program to participate in 10 joint projects with other EU member states.
Under the program, the European Commission has approved funding for the implementation of projects in Ukraine to prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes, monitor and prevent cancer and other non-communicable diseases, strengthen infection control in hospitals and among healthcare workers, improve diagnosis of rare diseases, and exchange of experience in treatment between EU countries.
The projects will train specialists in the control of medicines and medical devices in accordance with EU standards, as well as in the latest treatment methods and evaluation of medical technologies, and implement the European system for assessing the safety of human blood, tissues, and cells.
In addition, the projects are aimed at integrating the Ukrainian eHealth system into the EU’s single eHealth system, cooperation between EU countries to jointly set priorities, goals and measures to improve the global health of EU citizens and strengthen the system of response to and surveillance of cross-border threats.
The Ministry of Health clarifies that under the 2023 work program, 12 calls for proposals were announced for non-governmental organizations with a total budget of about EUR 20 million. They relate, in particular, to the areas of access to health care, mental health, prevention and diagnosis of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Each participating country appoints a national program committee (representatives of the Ministry of Health) and coordinators for project implementation within the country, and in Ukraine, specialists from the Public Health Center have been appointed.
The total budget of the EU4Health program for 2021-2027 is EUR 5.3 billion. EU4Health is implemented through annual work programs. The agreement allows Ukraine to receive EU funding in the health sector on equal terms with the EU countries, Norway, Iceland and Moldova.
Ukraine’s participation in the program involves the payment of an annual contribution totaling EUR 12.1 million (2022-2027). In 2022, an agreement was signed to cancel the membership fee for Ukraine in that year. Currently, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are working on ratification of the agreement in the Verkhovna Rada and on the abolition of membership fees for Ukraine until the end of the program (until 2027).
In 2023, Ukraine became the third largest supplier of agricultural products to the EU and increased its share of agricultural imports by 11% in January-September compared to 2022, the Polish publication farmer.pl reported, citing a report by the European Commission.
“Ukraine remains one of the three largest suppliers of agricultural products to the EU, according to the European Commission’s report on international trade. In the period from January to September this year, the European Union increased imports of agricultural products from Ukraine by 11% compared to 2022,” the publication wrote.
According to the report, the value of Ukrainian exports of agricultural products to the EU in the period from January to September 2023 reached EUR8.75 billion.
“Imports from Ukraine showed the largest increase in the period from January to September compared to 2022 (+891 million euros, or +11%), mainly due to an increase in grain imports,” the European Commission report says.
The biggest jump in these imports was recorded between January and June this year. Since June, imports have remained below the level of 2022, and in September they almost returned to the level of 2021, the EC said.
According to the results of the reporting period, Ukraine became the third largest exporter of agricultural products to the EU – after Brazil and the UK.
At the same time, Ukraine ranks 14th among the recipients of agricultural products from the European Union. From January to September of this year, Ukraine imported products from the EU for EUR 2.5 billion, which is 19% more than in the same period last year, farmer.pl noted.
