Brussels Recommends Extending Free Import of Goods From Ukraine, Moldova Until June 2025

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Commission recommended extending the free import of goods from Ukraine and Moldova until June 2025 with a number of measures to protect the member states.

"The Commission has today proposed to renew the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, while reinforcing protection for sensitive EU agricultural products," the EU body said in a statement, adding that it also "proposes to renew by another year the suspension of all remaining duties on Moldovan imports in force since July 2022."

Later in the day, the commission proposed exempting EU farmers for 2024 from Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) rules that require them to keep a certain amount of land nonproductive, in an effort to address farmers' income concerns.

"Today, the Commission provides the possibility for all EU farmers to be exempted from this requirement and still be eligible for their CAP basic direct payment," the commission said in a statement.

Instead of keeping portions of their arable land fallow, EU farmers would be able to grow nitrogen fixing crops, such as lentils, peas, or favas, or "catch crops on 7% of their arable land" and be considered compliant with the requirement, the statement explained.

The proposal came as farmers in several EU countries are protesting to vent their anger at less-regulated foreign rivals undercutting agricultural prices and to demand simpler regulation.

Since 2022, the European Union has been importing tariff-free Moldovan and Ukrainian agricultural products to support the countries' economies amid global inflationary pressures and geopolitical tensions.