All posts tagged: Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

Former EU Commissioner Schinas to replace ousted Greek farm minister

Former EU Commissioner Schinas to replace ousted Greek farm minister

Published by Sam Flores

ATHENS — Margaritis Schinas, a former European Commission vice president, is set to take over the Greek agriculture ministry after a widening farm fraud scandal prompted the resignation of three top government officials. Agriculture Minister Konstantinos Tsiaras, Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis and Deputy Health Minister Dimitris Vartzopoulos stepped down Friday after being implicated in fresh allegations from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) earlier this week. The European investigations are chipping deeper into the ranks of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ center-right New Democracy party. They focus on dozens of cases in which Greeks allegedly received EU agricultural funds for pastureland they did not own or lease, or for agricultural work they did not perform, thereby depriving legitimate farmers of the funds they deserved. This multi-year, multimillion-euro scam was the subject of a POLITICO investigation in February 2025. On Wednesday, the European prosecutor asked the Greek parliament to lift the immunity of the ministers, along with eight other active MPs. On Thursday, prosecutors added two more active MPs, all from the New Democracy party, to its list of …

Europe’s farmers lost the Mercosur battle. They’re still ahead. – POLITICO

Europe’s farmers lost the Mercosur battle. They’re still ahead. – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The EU’s largest farm lobby, Copa-Cogeca, said Friday that the process of getting the Mercosur deal across the line “erodes trust in European governance, democratic processes and parliamentary scrutiny at a time when institutional credibility is already under strain.” The group said it would continue mobilizing farmers. Privately, Commission officials express frustration about the farm lobbies’ hardening demands.  One said that even though Brussels bends over backwards to meet farmers’ demands, every concession still falls short for farm leaders. Another pointed to Commissioner Hansen’s efforts to engage in direct dialogue with farmers across the EU. “And still, they talk as if we had done nothing,” the official said, referring directly to Copa-Cogeca. For now, farm leaders are winning.  Von der Leyen might be boarding that plane to South America. But when she returns to Brussels, they will already be gearing up for the next fight, confident they can lose the trade battle and still bend Europe’s policy in their favor. Source link