All posts tagged: Farmer protest

13 things we learned at the EU summit in Cyprus – POLITICO

13 things we learned at the EU summit in Cyprus – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

8. Italy doesn’t want to pay for Brussels building work Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni isn’t happy about plans to renovate the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels (that’s the building just off the Schuman roundabout that looks like a 1970s leisure center and is next to the giant glass egg building). “We cannot propose renovating the European Council’s headquarters at a cost of €800 million. This is something Italy cannot afford, and it would send the wrong message to citizens,” Meloni said while in Cyprus. 9. Mutual defense needs work Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU’s mutual defense clause, Article 42.7, needs some gaming out if it’s going to work properly in practice. “The treaty is very clear about the what,” von der Leyen said, explaining member countries are obligated to come to each other’s aid. “The treaty is not clear about what happens when and who does what.” 10. Kids say the smartest things As he spoke with students under the shade of a tree at Nicosia Franco-Cypriot school, one of …

Irish government loses key rural voice in surprise resignation amid fuel-price fury – POLITICO

Irish government loses key rural voice in surprise resignation amid fuel-price fury – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Rising to his feet from the government benches, Healy-Rae said he’d spent Monday night talking to aggrieved voters in the Plough Bar in his County Kerry constituency — and had come away persuaded he should stop supporting Martin. “I met tractor men, lorry men, farmers, telling me how unhappy they were. The leader of the country should have listened,” Healy-Rae told a hushed chamber. “Because I believe this government have let the people of Ireland down, I will be voting no confidence in the leader of the country, and I will be tendering my resignation as a minister of state from now,” he said. Healy-Rae accused the government of lacking sympathy for farmers and truckers struggling to pay runaway diesel prices. “People cried at the protests — and they were workers! They were respectable people!” he shouted. He then exited the Leinster House parliamentary building to cheers from the hundreds of fuel-price protesters, mostly middle-aged men, who had gathered outside behind security barriers. Healy-Rae — who invariably dons an Irish flat cap — is the …

Mercosur trade deal splits EU Parliament in half – POLITICO

Mercosur trade deal splits EU Parliament in half – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The process would kick the can down the road by up to two years. This vote is effectively a dry run of where the majority would stand on final approval. Many of the lawmakers who support the deal are expected to reject sending it to court. However, that is not the case for some: The 12 German Green lawmakers, for example, are in favor of the deal but also support sending it to court to assess its legality — making Wednesday’s vote even tighter.  In the Council of the EU, the bloc’s intergovernmental branch, the agreement won a qualified majority despite the opposition of France, Poland, Austria, Ireland and Hungary. Belgium abstained; Italy only backed the deal after securing safeguards and funding commitments for its farmers. A Parliament vote against the deal would deal a massive blow to Brussels and the pro-deal camp led by Germany. “We must not let this opportunity go to waste,” Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said last week, calling on the European Parliament to back the deal. “We need not talk …

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