A delegation from the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, led by Chair Norbert Lins, will travel to the Polish-Ukrainian border on 20-21 June.
During the visit, MEPs will visit the Medyka (rail) and Korczowa (road) border crossings to assess the import of Ukrainian agricultural commodities and the potential for alternative routes. The capacity for storing agricultural products will be the subject of an exchange of views between MEPs and Ukrainian business and trade representatives.
Ahead of the trip, Norbert Lins (EPP, DE) said: “Due to the Russian blockade of the Ukrainian Black Sea ports, grain exports have to be transported via road and rail. This is a huge infrastructural and bureaucratic challenge at the borders of Ukraine. The aim of this fact-finding mission at the Polish-Ukrainian border is to see what the problems on the spot are and where help from the European side could be provided very quickly and in an uncomplicated manner.”
Lins will be joined by six other MEPs: Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, IT), Juozas Olekas (S&D, LT), Ulrike Müller (Renew, DE), Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, LU), Veronika Vrecionová (ECR, CZ), and Luke Flanagan (The Left, IE).
On 24 March, the European Parliament called for food corridors to be established to and from Ukraine. On 12 May, the Commission published a plan to facilitate Ukraine’s agricultural export and bilateral trade with the EU, which aims to restore commerce with Ukraine by resolving transport and administrative bottlenecks and redirecting flows towards alternative routes.
