Good morning from Paris.
US President Donald Trump's belligerent trade policy has made the EU-Mercosur trade agreement look a bit rosier in the eyes of senior officials in France, long the most vocal opponent of the deal, write Euractiv’s Alice Bergoënd and Sofia Sanchez Manzanaro.
However, the deal would also allow more imports of cheaper beef, poultry and sugar – a key reason why the entire French political spectrum has maintained an anti-Mercosur stance for years.
Scepticism in Paris has been driven by fears that a surge in South American farm imports from the Mercosur countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguary – could pose a threat to the French farming sector.
Now that the European Union is embroiled in a trade conflict with the US – a crucial destination for French exports – the political calculus has changed.
Senior French officials are reconsidering whether a Mercosur deal might actually be a way to increase French food exports and cash in on new markets.
Bruno Bonnell, who runs the France 2030 investment plan within the French prime minister's office, said the EU-Mercosur agreement “constitutes an opportunity for exports” in certain agri-food sectors, while also being “a brake” on the development of others.
Sectors potentially impacted by imports from South America "have one choice: to specialise", Bonnell, a former French MP from President Emmanuel Macron's centrist Renaissance party, told Euractiv. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | [EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET] |
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Significant effort. A trade deal aimed at avoiding Donald Trump’s tariffs on European exports will require a "significant effort" from both the EU and the US, the European Commission's trade chief said on Monday after meeting with American officials in Washington, writes Thomas Moller-Nielsen.
Meanwhile, South Korea announced today that it would increase its support package for the country’s vital semiconductor industry to 33 trillion won (€21.6 billion), representing a rise of around a quarter from the 26 trillion won package revealed last year.
Seven ‘safe countries.’ The European Commission will propose seven "safe third countries of origin" to which EU countries can return asylum seekers, according to a document seen by Nicoletta Ionta.
No-go. The EU's top diplomat has warned Balkan leaders against attending Vladmir Putin's 'Victory Day' parade in Moscow next month, writes Alexandra Brzozowski.
More integration needed. European politicians must surrender some national control over their energy systems to make the EU's interconnected electricity grid cheaper for everybody, energy specialist and think tanker Conall Heusaff tells Nikolaus J. Kurmayer.
Confident in its compliance. Tech giant Meta plans to restart training its AI on EU citizens' social media posts, the company announced on Monday, claiming the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has "affirmed" the legality of its approach, writes Jacob Wulff Wold.
Age verification. The Commission starts testing its own age verification app in May to make it harder for children to access adult content online, according to a presentation obtained by Anupriya Datta and Claudie Moreau. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | [Leonhard Simon/Getty Images] |
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| BERLIN Allies have reacted with praise after Germany’s chancellor-to-be, Friedrich Merz, said that he will greenlight the controversial delivery of German long-range missiles to Ukraine. Read more.
German Social Democrats to start voting on coalition agreement. A majority of the party’s 358,000 members have to approve the deal struck with the designated Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his Christian Democrats. Voting starts Tuesday and will be open until 29 April, with the result due to be announced the next day.
Lars Klingbeil, the Social Democrats’ chairman, warned that there will be new elections or a Christian Democratic minority government if the members reject the deal. Parts of the party’s youth wing have criticised the final agreement for failing to address economic injustice and for its harsh migration policies. (Nick Alipour | Euractiv.de)
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PARIS French opposition threatens censure over €40bn budget squeeze. France's 2026 budget plans are already causing political tremors. On Monday, figures from both the far left and far right warned they could vote to censure the government if it pushes ahead with an extra €40 billion in savings to meet its deficit target of 4.6% of GDP. "If the plan is to ask the French to tighten their belts again without the state making its own savings – on immigration, on public spending – then we will work to censure it," said far-right National Rally vice-president Sébastien Chenu. The left too. The coordinator of La France Insoumise (LFI), Manuel Bompard, echoed this sentiment, saying that his party was "ready to table a new motion of censure in the coming days". However, he made this conditional on the support of other left-wing groups, saying that he was not sure if the rest of the left would back it. Finance Minister Éric Lombard has insisted that the savings will come mainly from spending cuts. (Charles Szumski)
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BRUSSELS Belgium's pharma hub still resilient despite US investment surge. As Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson pour billions into US-based pharmaceutical manufacturing, American companies are also continuing to invest in Belgium to serve the European market for advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs). Read more. |
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| STOCKHOLM Swedish Left urges new leader of opposition ally to clarify stance. The Centre Party's nomination of Anna-Karin Hatt as its new leader could reshape Sweden's opposition dynamics - but only if she adopts a clear political stance, the leader of the opposition Left Party, Nooshi Dadgostar, has warned. Read more. |
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| LISBON US halts orders for Portuguese wine, cuts farm orders, say trade associations. The president of the Portuguese association of wine and spirits merchants and exporters (ANCEVE), Paulo Amorim, said on Monday that “the US has stopped orders for Portuguese wines and wines from Europe.” “The uncertainty is terrible and with the uncertainty the distribution chain in the United States has stopped orders for Portuguese wines and wines from Europe and so at the moment we're facing a terrible problem and we're not managing to sell,” said the association's president. Paulo Amorim also fears that, if the tariffs materialise, “most of the loss will be borne by the wine producers,” which he considers a “gigantic unfairness.” He spoke to journalists after meeting with the minister of the economy and the minister of agriculture and fisheries in Lisbon, together with 16 other sectoral associations, in the context of the tariffs announced by the President of the United States. The president of ANCEVE also said that Portuguese wine needs “a new Porter plan,” which “helps to promote Portuguese wine in a more dynamic way,” bearing in mind that "wine carries the name of Portugal far and wide.” On a similar note, The head of the Portuguese national agricultural confederation (CNA), Vítor Rodrigues, said today that there are already "retractions in orders, especially from the United States", following the tariffs announced by Donald Trump. (Afonso Jesus Rodrigues | Lusa.pt) |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | [Thomas Krych/Anadolu via Getty Images] |
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| BUDAPEST Hungary will not agree to any part of the EU's training mission to send military advisers to Ukraine as it risks escalating the war, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday. Read more.
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WARSAW
Poland faces EU poultry export crisis. The European Commission's reported decision to restrict poultry exports from Poland due to bird flu concerns would be a disaster for Warsaw, deputy parliamentary speaker Krzysztof Bosak stated during a radio interview on Monday. Last week, Money.pl revealed that the Commission might impose trade restrictions on Polish poultry meat following outbreaks of avian influenza. Since the start of the year, bird flu has affected 6.5 million poultry. Media reports suggest the Commission is drafting regulations to expand buffer zones, though Poland has opposed extending them to entire regions (voivodeships). On Friday, the Commission confirmed these reports. Spokeswoman Eva Hrniczova announced that certain areas in Northern, Central, and Western Poland would face “extraordinary measures” to mitigate the risk of avian influenza spreading. The EU executive is expected to finalize its decision next week. “The proposed restrictions on poultry farming by the European Commission are disproportionate to the actual situation,” warned signatories of the Agricultural Agreement of Poultry Associations and Organisations, cautioning that the measures could result in losses amounting to billions of euros. Speaking on Radio Zet, far-right politician Bosak (Confederation, ESN/PfE) criticized the Commission's announcement, claiming it would benefit major international market players at the expense of Poland. In his view, the poultry issue is yet another evidence that the EU has gained too much of the competences at the cost of the member states. “Polish politicians are unable to admit to the Polish public how little depends on them,” Bosak said. (Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
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PRAGUE
Prague limits e-scooters, cuts off access to public parking. Prague plans to exclude shared electric scooters from its new regulatory system for shared transport, effectively preventing their parking in the city. Shared bicycles and e-bikes will be allowed to park in designated areas, under a new system based on contracts between micro-mobility operators and the Czech capital's road authority (TSK). Prague’s Deputy Mayor Zdeněk Hřib noted that while operators could theoretically arrange private parking spots with landowners, “the city does not expect this to happen.” The new rules respond to long-standing complaints from city centre residents about reckless scooter use, especially by tourists. Similar bans have already been introduced in Paris and Madrid. (Aneta Zachová | Euractiv.cz) |
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| SOFIA Eastern Europe targeted heavily by Russian disinformation, report finds. A vast Russian disinformation network has focused its efforts primarily on former Soviet republics, the Balkans, and Central Europe, according to a new report by the Center for Information, Democracy and Citizenship at the American University in Bulgaria and tech company Sensika Technologies. The 'Pravda ecosystem'. The analysis examined 643,601 online articles across 45 countries over a three-month period between December 2024 and March 2025. At the center of the campaign is a cluster of over 190 websites referred to by the report’s authors as the "Pravda Ecosystem" – a disinformation infrastructure that has actively spread Russian propaganda since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Moldova emerged as the network’s top target, receiving more than 56 times the level of disinformation seen in Western European countries. Other heavily targeted countries include Georgia, Slovakia, and Bulgaria. The report links the campaign to broader geopolitical dynamics, noting that it coincides with the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – described in the report as “a key counter-voice to Russian propaganda in the region.” “This is a strategic error that leaves a vacuum now being filled by the Pravda Ecosystem,” the analysis states. In Bulgaria, some of Russia’s most prominent disinformation campaigns have focused on the European Union, NATO, the euro adoption process, the war in Ukraine, migration, and COVID-19. (Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)
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BUCHAREST | CHIŞINĂU
EBRD launches tender for new investor in Moldova’s strategic port. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced on Monday the launch of an international tender aimed at attracting a new investor for Moldova’s main sea-river port, Giurgiulești. Romania has expressed interest in the strategically located port on the Danube. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
US congressional delegation visits Bucharest to discuss Romanian elections. A bipartisan US congressional delegation, consisting of four Republicans and four Democrats, arrived in Romania on Monday to meet with Bucharest authorities. Talks will focus on last November’s presidential elections, the upcoming May elections, and Washington's recent suspension of Romania from its visa waiver programme. Read more. |
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| EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen receives Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Mykhailo Fedorov; High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas holds meetings with Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation of Tanzania Mahmoud Thabit Kombo, United States Representative Keith Self; Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera hosts the European Roundtable for Industry; Fisheries and Oceans Commissioner Costas Kadis meets with European Shipowners (ECSA) President; Energy and Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen receives European Mortgage Federation-European Covered Bond Council representatives; Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Commissioner Michael meets with EU Supreme Judicial Courts Presidents’ Network and Sweden Supreme Court President Anders Eka; Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius receives NATO Military Committee Chair Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone; Equality Commissioner Hadja Lahbib participates in Sudan Ministerial Conference 2025, in London, United Kingdom; Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport Commissioner Glenn Micallef meets with Audiovisual Authors Society. |
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| *** [Edited by Vas Panagiotopoulos, Charles Szumski, Daniel Eck, Sofia Mandilara] |
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