PM: Ukraine to intensify talks on Association Agreement with EU in coming weeks

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that Ukraine will intensify discussions with its European partners over the coming weeks regarding the Association Agreement.

"In the coming weeks, we will strengthen dialogue with our European allies on trade. We want to amend the Association Agreement to ensure that Ukrainian products can continue to enter the European market without major restrictions," Shmyhal stated at a government meeting on Friday.

Earlier, Ukraine emphasized at a meeting of the Association Council the importance of extending Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs) through the end of 2025.

A joint press release following the 10th meeting of the Association Council noted that the EU's ATMs, introduced to boost Ukrainian exports after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, are set to expire on June 5 of this year. Until amendments to the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) section of the Association Agreement are made, interim solutions may be introduced.

The first ATMs came into effect on June 4, 2022, temporarily lifting tariffs, quotas, and other trade restrictions on Ukrainian goods for a year. The regime was extended twice – on June 6, 2023, and again on June 6, 2024.

Ukrainian agricultural producers have voiced concerns that trade with the EU could revert after June 5, 2025, to the current rules under Article 29 of the DCFTA, which imposes very low export quotas on certain agricultural products. There are also worries about the return of the 100,000-tonne export quota for bioethanol. Talks are underway to raise these quotas, but concerns remain that there may not be enough time left to formalize the necessary changes before the June deadline.

Meanwhile, proposals are already under discussion within the EU to retain preferential import conditions for Ukrainian metallurgical products in the event the ATMs are lifted.