Welcome to Better Europe’s weekly update on EU Affairs.
MERCOSUR: FARMERS 1 – FREE TRADE 0
25 years of political negotiations, 7,000 farmers taking to the streets of Brussels, and still no sign of this saga ending. As EU leaders prepared for a pivotal summit, thousands of farmers took to the streets to make their concerns heard. Protesters surrounded EU institutions to denounce a deal that they fear will allow cheaper beef, soy, and agricultural imports from South America into the EU. Inside the European Council, divisions were just as visible. While Germany and the Commission pushed hard for ratification, France, Poland and Italy successfully called for a delay. Despite last-minute safeguards and a €1 billion support fund promised by the Commission, member states appear increasingly uneasy. Together with the late-night decision to leave the frozen assets alone and fund support for Ukraine through a joint loan backed up by the EU budget instead of coughing up the money, the summit shows that EU political leaders struggle to establish a position on the geopolitical stage, torn between ambitions and the reality of day-to-day pressure from their own citizens.
JUST GIVE US THE RETAIL MONEY PLEASE
Value for Money, that’s what the EU delivers for citizens. And the Retail Investment potpourri, or Strategy as the EU institutions still prefer to call it, marks a seismic shift as it will finally encourage citizens to move their piles of cash away from dormant bank accounts into financial markets where it is desperately needed. The catch? Beyond the shiny press releases, the agreement reached in a final all-night Strasbourg trilogue removes plenty of information currently given to consumers because allegedly they do not read it anyway, whether it’s expected financial performance or sustainability risks. The deal leaves retail investors at the mercy of financial intermediaries who should help them find the right product while they can continue to be paid through kickbacks received from those that create financial investment products. The agreement also “encourages” member states to finally do something to improve financial literacy and perhaps even consider regulating finfluencers who give financial “advice” on social media. And those of us who have a lot of investments, work in the financial industry or trade a lot can opt-out of the consumer protection framework – a lot simpler indeed.
FINAL PARLIAMENT CLAP FOR 2025
Last but not least, the European Parliament closed the year with a final plenary session full of political contrasts… some good and some bad, and some (very) ugly. On a positive note, MEPs backed the My Voice, My Choice European Citizens’ Initiative, signalling their support for safe and accessible abortion across the EU at a time when women’s rights are under pressure in several member states. However, the bad news followed swiftly: MEPs rubberstamped the Omnibus I agreements, significantly diluting the EU’s ambition to hold corporations accountable. Similarly, Parliament voted on the trilogue outcomes of the revised EU Deforestation Regulation, which will be further delayed and weakened. Backed by the centre-right and the far right, the votes confirm fears that a further rollback of hard-won social and environmental safeguards in the name of competitiveness is under way. Addressing MEPs, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was more concerned with geopolitics, summing up the situation on Ukraine, saying: ‘This is Europe’s independence moment.’ However, the debates reveal how fragile this ambition remains as the year draws to a close.