EU agri boss says Ukraine will challenge bloc’s market

Good morning from Warsaw,

The European Commission wants Ukraine to join the bloc “politically”, but Kyiv’s “vast agricultural potential” could destabilise the EU market, EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski told Euractiv in an interview.

As a solution he suggested reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in order for EU smallholders to be protected.

He also said he was “grateful” for EU farmers’ protests which helped the EU executive act quickly as a considerable part of the Green Deal was “impossible for farmers to implement”.

Last but not least, he gave advice to the future EU agriculture commissioner on how the CAP should look in the long run.

Aleksandra Krzysztoszek reports from Warsaw.

German EU lawmaker Peter Lieseis already eyeing the next revamp of the EU’s emissions trading scheme, wants a CO2 ‘central bank’, and is pushing for his party to stay the course on EU climate targets, he told Nikolaus Kurmayer in an interview.

Moreover, take a look at Georgi Gotev’s op-ed on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Serbia and Hungary, where he was received as “the messiah in scenes reminiscent of communist times”.

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PARIS

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen spoke out against the “Europeanisation” of France’s nuclear firepower on Thursday, claiming that no EU commissioner would ever have the democratic legitimacy to decide on nuclear strikes. Read more.

LONDON

UK opposition leader sets out plans to tackle small boats crossings. British opposition leader Keir Starmer will say on Friday a Labour government would hire hundreds of enforcement officials and use counter-terrorism powers to target people-smuggling gangs to stop asylum seekers arriving in England on small boats. Read more.

ROME

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MADRID

EPP leader Weber slams Sánchez for ‘reflection days’ on leadership. European People’s Party (EPP) President Manfred Weber on Thursday criticised Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) for deciding to take five days to consider whether to resign or stay in office, saying “Spain needs a statesman, not a showman”. Read more.

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LISBON

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SOFIA

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, emerging as one of the key future players in Bulgarian party politics, personally attended the banned pro-Russian “Immortal Regiment” march in Sofia on Thursday. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romanian PM urges regulators to tackle ‘shrinkflation’ phenomenon. With some retailers offering less while keeping prices the same, a phenomenon now widely referred to as “shrinkflation”, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has called on lawmakers to adopt measures to combat the trend, drawing inspiration from the French model. Read more.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Liene Lūsīte, Alice Taylor]