The EU’s Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, has announced that the EU is considering sanctions against Russia in response to the Russian ban on Polish food exports:
Mandelson, quoted by the British Financial Times told members of the European parliament that the Commission was investigating the Russian ban and expected to end that probe “speedily”. He said he had “doubts” about the reasons given by Moscow earlier this month for introducing a temporary ban on Polish meat, a move that has been condemned by Warsaw.
Russia announced a ban on Polish beef, pork and poultry products, saying there were “frequent violations of [Russian] veterinary legislation”. It has also separately blocked Polish exports of plant products. The ban has strained an already tense relationship between the two countries and has been widely seen in Poland as a political rather than sanitary move designed to test the new government.
Going by past experience, any EU sanctions (if, indeed, the dispute ever gets that far) would probably be closely targetted at the Russian agricultural industry, rather than at Russia as a whole. The value of any sanctions is also extremely unlikely to amount to anything more than the value of Poland’s loss of income.
But, still, if ever an indication of why countries like Ukraine are desperate to join the EU were needed, this is it. Once a state becomes an EU member, it doesn’t have to take on the bear alone.
