Source: European Parliament
Priority question for written answer P-001167/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Anne-Sophie Frigout (PfE), Barbara Bonte (PfE), Anna Maria Cisint (PfE), Hermann Tertsch (PfE), Irmhild Boßdorf (ESN)
The beet sector is going through a major crisis, triggered by the ban on neonicotinoids, for which a solution has yet to be found. This crisis has been aggravated by the lift on customs duties for Ukraine, whose sugar exports increased from 20 000 tonnes pre-war to 500 000 tonnes in 2023.
The EU-Mercosur trade agreement risks increasing the strain, as it would see a further 190 000 tonnes of sugar and 650 000 tonnes of ethanol imported into the EU. Also contributing to this destabilisation are the exports of industrial alcohol from Pakistan, exempt from customs duties, which benefit from the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP+) in return for efforts to ensure human and labour rights are upheld. Since 2018, its exports have increased from 2 % to 20 % of the EU market, rising by more than 200 % between 2021 to 2022. Yet we are witnessing the sharpest democratic backsliding since 2008, with the agricultural sector under the control of the Pakistani army and fundamental rights clearly being violated[1].
In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2015/478 and Regulation (EU) 978/2012:
- 1.Will the Commission activate the safeguard clause on the basis of the evidence provided for over a year by the EU industry concerned?
- 2.Will it investigate the failure to comply with the principles of good governance laid down in the GSP+?
Supporters[2]
Submitted: 19.3.2025
- [1] https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/la-revue-de-presse-internationale/la-revue-de-presse-internationale-emission-du-vendredi-31-janvier-2025-7626409
- [2] This question is supported by Members other than the authors: Julie Rechagneux (PfE), Mélanie Disdier (PfE), Malika Sorel (PfE), Julien Leonardelli (PfE), Valérie Deloge (PfE), Gilles Pennelle (PfE)