The European Commission should have granted an NGO access to documents on pesticide approvals, an EU court ruled — the latest setback for the institution in a string of transparency battles.

The European Commission is set to reject calls for an EU-wide ban on fur farming, opting instead to propose stricter animal-welfare standards for the sector, according to an internal draft communication seen by POLITICO.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned today that a potential Polish exit from the EU is now a “real threat,” accusing nationalist President Karol Nawrocki and right-wing opposition parties of steering the country toward leaving the bloc.

Czech PM Andrej Babiš built his fortune making fertilizer. But that’s just one part of his vast business network. A POLITICO examination maps the quieter pillar of his business empire — and the regulatory blind spots surrounding it 👇 🔗 www.politico.eu/article/fert...

The EU will provisionally implement its trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc, Ursula von der Leyen has announced. The move is likely to trigger a major backlash from European capitals and lawmakers opposed to the deal.

The commercial empire of Czech PM Andrej Babiš spans nitrogen-based fertilizers, assisted reproduction, online lingerie stores and more. Yet in Brussels, no one can answer a simple question: Which of his companies receive EU money — and how much?

Cindy McCain will step down as executive director of the U.N. World Food Program later this year, citing ongoing health concerns after suffering a mild stroke in October.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is facing new accusations that he never fully severed ties with his agricultural empire, after publicly promising to do so in order to avoid major conflicts of interest in both Prague and Brussels.

As the Polish government tries to undo controversial court reforms, long-settled divorces are being thrown into doubt. And that is handing fresh ammunition to the opposition. 🔗 www.politico.eu/article/pola...

Zbigniew Ziobro spent eight years reshaping Poland’s legal system. Now, speaking from political asylum in Hungary, the former justice minister says the same system is being turned against him, and that he can only fight it from abroad.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is exposing a dangerous weak link in EU law that allows populist governments to shield their allies from jail, Poland’s Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek has warned in an interview with POLITICO.

As Ursula von der Leyen prepares to sign the Mercosur deal on Saturday, its opponents still plan legal action against it even as they admit their chances of success appear slim. Story with @maxgriera.bsky.social and @thisisbartosz.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/eu-m...

Even after most member countries backed the EU’s landmark trade accord with Latin America, opponents of the deal in France, Poland and the European Parliament are still determined to derail or delay it.

Officially, the EU’s Mercosur trade deal, approved by the majority of the bloc's members last week, is a defeat for Europe’s farmers. In reality, farm lobbies just can’t stop winning.

The EU and Mercosur will sign their long-awaited trade agreement on Saturday, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveling to Paraguay on Jan. 17 for the signing ceremony.

Ursula von der Leyen wanted her next EU budget to have a rainy-day fund in case of war, pandemic or competition from other world powers. Instead, she is already raiding it to pay off farmers and nail down the Mercosur trade deal.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is determined to travel to South America next week to sign the EU’s long-delayed Mercosur trade deal. But she’s having to make last-minute pledges to Europe’s farmers in order to board that flight.

Brussels is making a final push to get the European Union’s long-awaited trade deal with the Latin American Mercosur bloc over the finish line this week.

Just as Poland secured a coveted place among the G20 group of leading economies, a clash over who gets to represent Warsaw at the top table is undermining its diplomatic heft.

A sneak peek of today’s EU Influence:  🇩🇪 The EPP’s top brass is in Germany talking innovation  🌱 The debate on glyphosate returns 🍔 While the European Parliament debates banning veggie names — its canteen responds by trolling Dig in 👇

France is playing for time over a crucial vote on the EU’s trade mega deal with Mercosur, in a strategy that could kill the long-awaited accord. “If we do not allow [Ursula von der Leyen] to sign it on the 20th, it's dead,” a senior diplomat said. www.politico.eu/article/fran...

While Poland is Europe’s largest defense spender, its domestic industry absorbs only a sliver of that money. That’s becoming a political problem. 🔗 politi.co/4oLpU9e

The EU is overhauling its plant rulebook. This time, the people worried about it aren’t farm lobbyists — they’re the growers who supply your garden.

As a frontline NATO heavyweight, Poland is seething at being relegated to the diplomatic sidelines on a potential peace deal in Ukraine.

Brussels’ battle over whether plant-based foods can be sold as “veggie burgers” and “vegan sausages” ended the year in stalemate today, after talks between EU countries and the European Parliament collapsed without a deal.

Poland is splashing cash on tanks, jet fighters, air defenses, drones, missiles, submarines, ammunition and rifles as it beefs up its military to face off Russia, but the big winners are defense contractors in the U.S. and South Korea, not Polish arms companies.

A “veggie burger” ban nobody wanted is becoming one Brussels might actually pass.

Europe’s draft gene-editing law — which could decide whether the bloc embraces a new generation of modified plants — may only survive thanks to the far right.

Poland, Hungary and Slovakia are openly defying efforts to reset trade relations as a revised trade deal with Kyiv kicks in.  The bans, covering Ukrainian grain and other farm products, breach EU single market rules that prohibit national trade barriers.

The European Commission’s 2023 plan to ease the suffering of farm animals on the move started out as the ultimate feel-good proposal. Now, its ambitions are stuck. But Denmark is trying to revive the efforts.

A Slovak liberal quietly steered one of the last surviving environmental files to the finish line.

Poland’s lower house has just voted to phase out fur farming by 2033, with compensation for those who quit early. Rabbits remain exempt. The bill now goes to the Senate and President Nawrocki for final approval.

Under Russian drones, Ukrainians wonder if Europe still cares www.politico.eu/article/russ... by @thisisbartosz.bsky.social

Ukrainians are feeling a deep unease that the rest of Europe is tired, turning its attention away from the war and viewing it as something that should simply end, no matter the cost.

The European Parliament voted today to ban plant-based and lab-grown products from having meat-related names such as “burger,” “sausage” or “steak” on their labels.

When your ban on veggie burger names and lab-grown steaks passes in the European Parliament — French MEP Céline Imart.

Even if the world stopped burning coal, oil and gas tomorrow, what we eat would still be enough to heat the climate beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius, warns the EAT-Lancet Commission.

The European Commission has proposed delaying the EU's flagship anti-deforestation law for the second year in a row as it continues its war on red tape.

More than a decade ago, as the EU’s first climate commissioner, Connie Hedegaard helped turn carbon policy into a pillar of Brussels’ power and a point of pride for the bloc. But now, she worries the tide is turning — with dire ramifications.

Poland today halted all further payments under an EU-funded program after a transparency push exposed grants for yachts, vodka bars and a business registered at the same address as a sex club.

Swingers' clubs and vodka bars: Donald Tusk’s coalition is scrambling after an ill-judged transparency drive revealed that some of Poland’s EU Covid recovery cash went to eyebrow-raising projects.

This week, the European Commission unveiled its sweeping new seven-year budget proposal. On the new episode of EU Confidential, @swheatonjourno.bsky.social, @gregsorgi.bsky.social + @thisisbartosz.bsky.social dig into the fights already heating up over where the money goes. 🎧 Listen now 👇

The post-2027 CAP regulation is finally out. Get the doc and the annex before the Commission takes them down again because the documents still contain comments like "insert reference." ec.europa.eu/transparency...

The European Commission says it’s safeguarding farmers in its proposed new budget. Farmers say Brussels is stabbing them in the back.

Ursula von der Leyen has had a tricky start to her second term as European Commission president. The next two years of negotiations over the long-term budget were never going to be easy. The way it has started has made a tough job even tougher.

Ursula von der Leyen is preparing to overhaul the bloc’s subsidy system to keep the farm budget limping along, but shifts political fights back onto national governments, a leaked policy blueprint obtained by POLITICO indicates.

[LEAK] While all eyes are on the budget allocated to farm subsidies, the @ec.europa.eu looks set to sneakily insert restrictions on the use of “meaty” names for plant-based foods in the proposal for a CMO regulation to be unveiled on Wednesday..

How big of a deal is the CAP really? In the run up to next week's budget announcement, we thought it was time to take a step back and look at how the money was divvied up last time. Here is how the EU spends almost a third of its budget on agriculture 👇 www.politico.eu/article/eu-b...

The EU is weighing a politically explosive merger of its farm and cohesion funds into broader national investment plans, as part of a sweeping effort to simplify how the bloc spends its shared money and responds more nimbly to crises, according to a draft seen by POLITICO.

🚨 The European Commission and Ukraine have agreed to revise their existing free trade agreement, giving Kyiv improved market access compared to pre-war terms, while stopping short of the complete liberalization provided during the conflict. pro.politico.eu/news/201113