Liberating Poland from “unfair competition” with Ukraine: Warsaw talks about secret negotiations with the EU

Representative of the Polish Foreign Ministry on negotiations with the EU/Collage Channel 24

Poland is holding closed negotiations with the European Commission on easing rules for Polish farmers. Warsaw wants less stringent Green Deal requirements as it competes with Ukraine, which is not an EU member.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Poland's Andrzej Szejna confirmed the holding of informal negotiations with the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. They concern the possibility of exempting Polish farmers from certain provisions of the Green Deal.

Warsaw is looking for a compromise

In response to a question about the non-public negotiations, Shein noted on ZET radio that Poland is striving for changes that would remove pressure from its agricultural market. According to him, the industry is vulnerable due to its territorial proximity to Ukraine.

The Polish official noted that the negotiations cover “everything possible,” in particular changes to the Green Deal and regulation of product imports that cause imbalances in EU markets. Scheina also expressed Warsaw's determination to act independently if negotiations with Brussels drag on.

If we manage to agree on Poland's demands in the EU, they will become common EU position. If it takes too long, we will make changes, we will introduce border blockades and tariffs unilaterally.

What is the Green Deal

The European Green Deal (or “European Green Agreement”) is a set of legislative initiatives put forward by the European Commission to the member countries of the Alliance. The strategy aims to make the European continent climate neutral by 2050 – in particular, it introduces fairly strict rules for farmers. This angers Polish farmers, since they are forced to compete with the Ukrainian agricultural market, for which the initiative is not mandatory.

Context

• Since the fall of 2023, Polish farmers and transporters have been regularly blocking the border with Ukraine. Thus, they do not allow our grain and other agricultural products to transit through Poland to other markets.
• In particular, on February 20, the Poles blocked all checkpoints for trucks. The Ukrainian government has tried to resolve this issue, but so far there is no consensus between Warsaw and Kiev.
• President Vladimir Zelensky stated that only 5% of Ukrainian agricultural products transited through Poland. The other day he also called this issue political, not economic, and also one that went beyond all moral boundaries.
• There have been many recorded cases of Polish protesters throwing out our grain. They explained their actions, in particular, by the fact that Ukrainian agricultural products allegedly reduced prices on the Polish market. But Ukrainian grain was not found in Polish stores.
• Against the background of this, discussions about possible sanctions against Russian grain are only gaining momentum. Actually, Russian agricultural products still travel freely around the world, in particular through the Belarusian border into Poland.