The own food safety authorities have not established any health or hygiene problems with imports from Moldova and the EU continues to import wine and other agricultural product, European Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle said in the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, IPN reports.
““We have taken note of the Russian ban against Moldovan agricultural products. We are not aware of any food safety reasons which would justify this,” said the Commissioner.
“Together with my colleague Dacian Ciolos, responsible for agriculture, we intend to look into the possibility of being able to further increase the wine quota for Moldovan exports to the EU. We also intend to send short term expertise to Moldova to help overcome some of the remaining barriers that their exports in other sectors such as poultry face. This signs of solidarity are also applicable to other partners which are subject to undue pressure.”
Štefan Füle said the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius is fast approaching. It promises to mark a momentous step forward in the EU’s political association and economic integration with several of the eastern European neighbors. “Clearly - and wrongly - this is seen in some quarters as a threat. As a result, we have seen enormous pressure being brought to bear upon some of our partners,” he stated.
The European official also said it is true that the Customs Union membership is not compatible with the DCFTAs which were negotiated with Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia, and Armenia, but “this is not because of ideological differences.” “The new generation of Association Agreements will bring enormous transformative benefits through legal approximation, regulatory convergence, and market liberalization. Independent studies indicate that a DCFTA will bring substantial benefits. Exports to the EU could double over time, leading to increase in GDP of up to approximately 12%. But in order to implement these, our partners must enjoy full sovereignty over their own trade policies, which members of the Customs Union will not,” he said.
According to Štefan Füle, the development of the Eurasian Economic Union project must respect the EU partners' sovereign decisions. Any threats from Russia linked to the possible signing of agreements with the European Union are unacceptable. This applies to all forms of pressure.
