The European Union will not introduce new trade preferences for Ukraine immediately after the current liberalization mechanism expires on June 5, 2025.
Source: This was revealed to the correspondent of "European Truth" by an anonymous European official familiar with the trade negotiations between Ukraine and the EU.
Details: The EU official emphasized that after June 5, 2025 – when the existing "trade visa-free" measures (Autonomous Trade Measures, ATM) provided by the EU to Ukraine end – the trading conditions will revert to pre-war levels.
At the same time, the EU will propose some favorable changes for Ukraine in collaboration with the Ukrainian side.
"Starting from June 6, the autonomous trade measures – trade preferences for Ukraine, introduced by the EU following Russia's full-scale aggression, will come to an end. Conditions will revert to pre-war levels. Both trade preferences and restrictive measures currently in place for several goods, such as chicken meat, eggs, honey, etc., will cease," the interlocutor told "European Truth".
He added that the idea of maintaining trade preferences for certain Ukrainian export goods to the EU, such as steel, is under discussion.
"The European Union will continue discussions on amending Article 29 of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU to develop the most advantageous trade conditions for both parties and support Ukraine's economy, which is suffering from the war," the European official stated.
Earlier, Poland's Minister of Agriculture Czesław Siekierski stated that the European Commission has not yet provided the EU Council with proposals regarding the "trade visa-free" regime with Ukraine.
It is worth noting that on May 13, 2024, the EU Council approved the extension of preferential trade with Ukraine for another year – until June 5, 2025.
Regarding the future format of trade relations between Ukraine and the EU, preliminary agreements were reached that the conditions of duty-free trade would be integrated into the Association Agreement with the EU.
In February 2025, First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stated at a joint meeting of the European Commission and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine that Ukraine's primary task in 2025 is to finalize consultations on trade liberalization with the EU in accordance with Article 29 of the Association Agreement.
In February 2025, the agriculture ministers of Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia called for the introduction of pre-war quotas on agricultural imports from Ukraine.