The European Commission does not plan to extend the autonomous trade measures (ATM) regime for Ukraine (the so-called “trade visa-free regime”), which is in effect until June 5, but will ensure a smooth transition to a new scheme, where all the conditions for trade liberalization will be fixed in the free trade agreement between Ukraine and the EU.
European Commission spokesman Olof Gill announced this at a briefing on April 30 in Brussels, the correspondent of European Pravda reports.
Gill emphasized that the autonomous trade measures, which remove most of the barriers for Ukrainian exports to the European Union, will not be completely abolished: all the details of trade liberalization between Ukraine and the EU will be fixed in the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA).
“Our intention is to ensure a seamless transition to a new regime where all trade arrangements will be baked into the deep and comprehensive free trade agreement we have with Ukraine,” said Olof Gill.
“So the intention would be to have a transition that allows the ATMs to expire and then all the liberalisation details will be programmed into the DCFTA,” he said.
A European Commission spokesman said he “cannot say when the process will happen.”
“But it will happen soon and it will proceed in a structured way so that there is no room for doubt as to what has happened,” he stressed.
“We are going to ensure that there is no need for a snapback. We're going to put in place a process so that as the ATMs expire, that the way we trade on a two-way basis with Ukraine is fully baked into our DCFTA,” concluded Olof Gill.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Ukraine's "economic visa-free regime" with the European Union is currently valid until June 2025.
In May 2022, the European Union abolished customs duties on all Ukrainian goods for 1 year.
In May 2023, the EU extended the "economic visa-free regime" with Ukraine for another year - until June 2024.
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