A coalition of four EU countries is taking shape in Brussels, with Poland pushing for a clear “same rules” principle for agricultural imports. During Monday’s meeting of EU agriculture ministers, Poland is speaking on behalf of four member states that want the EU’s trade policy to contain a firm requirement that imported agricultural products meet comparable standards to those imposed on EU farmers. The joint letter dated 22 January was signed by Poland, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia, and according to EU sources France is also expected to align with the appeal during the ministerial discussions. The issue is being raised by Poland’s minister of agriculture, Stefan Krajewski. At the heart of the dispute is whether EU trade agreements—both those already concluded and those still being negotiated—adequately protect the Union from a situation in which European farmers bear the costs of stricter regulations while cheaper food produced under looser rules enters the EU market.
The four countries argue that a level playing field requires uniform requirements not only in food safety—such as rules on pesticides and antibiotics—but also in broader sustainability standards: animal welfare, climate and environmental protection, and labour standards. In their view, current provisions in agreements, especially those with Ukraine and Mercosur, address the problem only partially, which is why they are calling for stronger, more universal safeguards.
The timing is not accidental. The updated EU–Ukraine trade agreement has been in force since 29 October 2025 and includes Ukraine’s commitment to gradually align certain agricultural production standards with EU rules, alongside reductions or removals of tariffs on various goods. Yet the political backdrop remains the experience of 2022–2024, when the temporary suspension of duties and restrictions after Russia’s invasion led to tensions in border countries—including Poland—linked to the inflow of cheaper products such as grain, poultry and sugar. For the signatories, this is precisely why the EU needs tougher “safety valves” that function reliably when import pressures destabilise local markets.
In parallel, the EU–Mercosur agreement was signed in January 2026 but has not yet entered into force, and its ratification path remains politically and legally contested. For the coalition of four—and other sceptical member states—Mercosur has become a symbol of risk: increased imports of agricultural goods, combined with differences in production standards, could undercut EU producers. The dispute also sits within a wider trade agenda. The four countries stress that the standards issue should be settled not only for recently concluded agreements, but also for those still under negotiation. EU talks with India are moving forward, and the EU is also pursuing agreements or renewed negotiations with other partners in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
A major part of the letter concerns safeguard clauses—mechanisms that allow temporary restrictions when imports disrupt the EU market. The signatories argue that, in the case of Ukraine, protective mechanisms focus mainly on newly granted preferences and do not fully cover earlier preferences, which in their view limits the real scope of protection for many agricultural products. As for Mercosur, they criticise the transitional nature of certain safeguards and call for solutions that would apply for an indefinite period rather than expiring after a set number of years. Beyond safeguards, they also demand a thorough assessment of how trade deals affect EU agriculture and propose establishing a fund that would compensate farmers for losses resulting from trade liberalisation.
Overall, the Brussels debate is part of a broader conflict over how to reconcile three objectives: open trade, the EU’s regulatory ambitions in areas like climate, animal welfare and agricultural chemicals, and the stability of farmers’ incomes. For Poland, the stakes are not only immediate pressure on prices and profitability, but also whether the EU will start applying a consistent principle in future trade agreements: if the EU raises the bar for its own farmers, it must raise it for imports as well.
