Croatian Farmers Resist Ukrainian Push for Larger EU Farm Import Quotas

Kyiv seeks an early review of sensitive quotas

Ukraine is preparing to seek larger European Union import quotas for sensitive agricultural products, reviving a dispute over market access, production standards and price pressure across the bloc. According to Jutarnji list, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotsky asked industry representatives to provide data for a stronger negotiating position and said Kyiv planned to resume consultations with the European Commission in September.

The products classified as sensitive include grain, corn, honey, sugar, poultry meat and eggs. Ukrainian business representatives have placed particular emphasis on revising quotas for sugar, starch, molasses, alcohol and bioethanol. The initiative comes as attacks on Black Sea ports disrupt Ukraine’s maritime exports, increasing the importance of access to the EU market. The Commission has not confirmed whether formal talks will start in September, leaving open whether the timetable reflects an agreed process or Kyiv’s objective.

Current agreement already expanded market access

A modernised EU-Ukraine trade agreement took effect at the end of October 2025. It created higher quotas than the 2016 arrangement but reduced access compared with the peak period of wartime duty-free imports. For most sensitive products, quotas were raised from their 2016 levels. The annual poultry quota increased from 90,000 tonnes to 120,000 tonnes, while the sugar quota rose from 20,070 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes.

Further increases are linked to Ukraine’s gradual alignment with EU production rules, including requirements covering animal welfare and pesticide use. Progress is subject to annual monitoring, with a final assessment scheduled for 2028. European producers have argued that compliance makes their production more expensive, while Ukrainian suppliers operating under different standards can offer substantially lower prices. The Commission had previously indicated that the next quota review was expected in 2028.

Croatian producers point to price and import pressure

Farm groups in Croatia and other eastern EU member states say imports of Ukrainian sugar, eggs and poultry have depressed domestic prices. Croatian arable farmers raised similar concerns about wheat and corn in 2023, and unrestricted Ukrainian imports became one of the issues behind farmer protests in Đakovo and Čakovec in 2024. Egg trade has attracted particular scrutiny: Croatia imported no Ukrainian eggs in 2022, but their value rose from €70,128 in 2023 to more than €8.2 million in 2024, an increase of 117 times. By the first half of 2025, the value had already exceeded that previous full-year level. Croatia’s Agriculture Ministry said most of the eggs were ultimately sent to other countries, while the State Inspectorate reported finding no eggs from third countries on Croatian retail shelves during its inspections.

The wider commercial relationship remains strongly weighted toward the EU. The bloc accounted for 65% of Ukraine’s total goods trade, valued at €68.2 billion in 2025. EU imports from Ukraine were worth €21.7 billion, while EU exports to Ukraine reached €46.5 billion. Agricultural imports declined partly because the value of grain imports fell 49%, or €2.2 billion. Corn volumes decreased 40%, or 1.2 million tonnes, and wheat volumes fell 65%, or 0.9 million tonnes. The value of rapeseed imports dropped 52%, or €870 million. In contrast, vegetable oil imports increased by €261 million, or 9%, supported by 51% growth in rapeseed oil volumes and 58% growth in soybean oil, while sunflower oil volumes fell by a quarter. These shifts give Brussels room to argue that overall agricultural pressure has eased, but the concentration of imports in products such as eggs, poultry and sugar remains the central concern for Croatian producers.