EU Sweetens Mercosur Deal Push With €45 Billion Farm Aid, Fertilizer Tariff Cuts

Overview

• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed letting countries draw early on up to two‑thirds of future CAP funds, worth about €45 billion, to support farmers.
• EU agriculture, trade and health commissioners met ministers in Brussels to offer funding assurances and to review import controls, including stricter limits on pesticide residues.
• Trade chief Maros Sefcovic said the EU plans to cut tariffs on urea and ammonia to zero and will urge lawmakers to allow temporary carbon border tax exemptions, after France and Italy pressed for relief on fertilizers.
• Italy signaled a shift toward backing the pact after the funding proposal, with Giorgia Meloni calling it a positive step, while Germany and Spain remain supportive and Ireland indicated conditional openness.
• France maintains its opposition and vowed to fight the pact in the European Parliament, Poland and Hungary remain against it, and any signing depends on a qualified majority of member states followed by parliamentary approval.