EU chief trades budget flexibility for free trade
Ursula von der Leyen envisioned her next EU budget having a rainy-day fund to address crises like war, pandemics, or competition from other global powers. However, the European Commission president is already tapping into that fund to compensate farmers and finalize the Mercosur trade deal.
National leaders — including those of Mercosur holdouts France and Italy — have rushed to claim credit for the offer to free up €45 billion for Common Agricultural Policy spending years ahead of schedule. Budget analysts and diplomats, however, called it a major step back from the Commission chief's initial ambition to help the bloc spend more nimbly in response to global chaos, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The concession is part of an attempt to make the EU-Mercosur deal palatable for the bloc’s farmers, who fear their products will be undercut by Latin American exports.
The sense of urgency was on full display Wednesday as agriculture ministers made their way to Brussels through snowfall and travel disruption for an extraordinary meeting called in response to last month’s farmer protest in the EU capital.
Inside, the exchanges followed a familiar script. Praise for farmers was paired with assurances they had been heard, alongside repeated references to safeguards, support measures and flexibility built into the EU’s draft budget.
Yet farmers, in early reactions, seemed less than impressed. In a statement, the Irish Farmers Association said von der Leyen’s proposal “smacks of desperation.”
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