Commission proposes to renew trade benefits for Ukraine for a year

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

The Commission has proposed today to renew the suspension of import duties, quotas and trade defence measures on Ukrainian exports to the European Union – known as the Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs) – for another year. This is a continuation of the EU’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s economy and helps alleviate the difficult situation faced by Ukrainian producers and exporters because of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression.

The main objective of the ATMs is to support Ukraine, but the measures are also mindful of EU industry concerns. To this end, and considering a significant increase in imports of some agricultural products from Ukraine to the EU in 2022, the renewed ATMs contain an expedited safeguard mechanism to protect the Union market if necessary.

Next steps

The proposal will now be considered by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union with a view to ensuring seamless transition from the current regime of ATMs to the new one.

Background

In force since 4 June 2022, the ATMs have had a positive effect on Ukraine’s trade to the EU. Together with the Solidarity Lanes, the ATMs have ensured that trade flows from Ukraine to the EU have remained remarkably stable in 2022 despite the disruptions caused by the war and against the general trend of a strong decrease of Ukraine’s trade overall.

Unilateral and temporary in nature, the ATMs significantly broaden the scope of tariff liberalisation under the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) by suspending all outstanding duties and quotas, as well as duties on anti-dumping and safeguard measures on Ukrainian imports in Ukraine’s hour of need.