The European Commission is implementing a special arrangement to ensure a smooth transition from the Autonomous Trade Measures (ATM) currently applied to Ukraine, which are expiring in a few days, to the previous tariff conditions for Kiev, European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said.
“The autonomous trade measures expire on the [June] 5, that being this Thursday. As we have said previously, we are now taking steps to put in place a transitional arrangement, kind of bridge, if you like, so that precisely so that we have the time to look into and agree with our Ukrainian partners the best way forward for upgrading the DCFTA, the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. And that will be the basis for our trading relationship going forward,” Gill said at a press briefing in Brussels on Monday.
There could be more certainty on the matter within the next few days, Gill said. It is too early to say now how Ukraine could be compensated for losses from the ATMs’ repeal, and the matter is among those to be discussed with Ukrainian counterparts, Gill said.
A first meeting to address the issue is set for the second half of Monday, he said.
A transitional arrangement is supposed “to restore the pre-autonomous trade measures, tariff lines, so basically what existed before the ATMs,” he said.
The ATMs for Ukraine are special preferential conditions the European Union granted Ukrainian exporters to support the country’s economy and ease exports from it. The ATMs were introduced in June 2022 to suspend import duties, quotas and trade protection measures with regard to Ukrainian exports.
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