BRUSSELS — The European Commission has unveiled a new plan to end the dominance of planet-heating fossil fuels in Europe’s economy — and replace them with trees. The so-called Bioeconomy Strategy, released Thursday, aims to replace fossil fuels in products like plastics, building materials, chemicals and fibers with organic materials that regrow, such as trees and crops. “The bioeconomy holds enormous opportunities for our society, economy and industry, for our farmers and foresters and small businesses and for our ecosystem,” EU environment chief Jessika Roswall said on Thursday, in front of a staged backdrop of bio-based products, including a bathtub made of wood composite and clothing from the H&M “Conscious” range. At the center of the strategy is carbon, the fundamental building block of a wide range of manufactured products, not just energy. Almost all plastic, for example, is made from carbon, and currently most of that carbon comes from oil and natural gas. But fossil fuels have two major drawbacks: they pollute the atmosphere with planet-warming CO2, and they are mostly imported from outside the EU, compromising the bloc’s strategic autonomy. The bioeconomy strategy aims to address both drawbacks by using locally produced or recycled carbon-rich biomass rather than imported fossil fuels. It proposes doing this by setting targets in relevant legislation, such as the EU’s packaging waste laws, helping bioeconomy startups access finance, harmonizing the regulatory regime and encouraging new biomass supply. The 23-page strategy is light on legislative or funding promises, mostly piggybacking on existing laws and funds. Still, it was hailed by industries that stand to gain from a bigger market for biological materials. “The forest industry welcomes the Commission’s growth-oriented approach for bioeconomy,” said Viveka Beckeman, director general of the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, stressing the need to “boost the use of biomass as a strategic resource that benefits not only green transition and our joint climate goals but the overall economic security.” HOW RENEWABLE IS IT? But environmentalists worry Brussels may be getting too chainsaw-happy. Trees don’t grow back at the drop of a hat and pressure on natural ecosystems is already unsustainably high. Scientific reports show that the amount of carbon stored in the EU’s forests and soils is decreasing, the bloc’s natural habitats are in poor condition and biodiversity is being lost at unprecedented rates. Protecting the bloc’s forests has also fallen out of fashion among EU lawmakers. The EU’s landmark anti-deforestation law is currently facing a second, year-long delay after a vote in the European Parliament this week. In October, the Parliament also voted to scrap a law to monitor the health of Europe’s forests to reduce paperwork. Environmentalists warn the bloc may simply not have enough biomass to meet the increasing demand. “Instead of setting a strategy that confronts Europe’s excessive demand for resources, the Commission clings to the illusion that we can simply replace our current consumption with bio-based inputs, overlooking the serious and immediate harm this will inflict on people and nature,” said Eva Bille, the European Environmental Bureau’s (EEB) circular economy head, in a statement. TOO WOOD TO BE TRUE Environmental groups want the Commission to prioritize the use of its biological resources in long-lasting products — like construction — rather than lower-value or short-lived uses, like single-use packaging or fuel. A first leak of the proposal, obtained by POLITICO, gave environmental groups hope. It celebrated new opportunities for sustainable bio-based materials while also warning that the “sources of primary biomass must be sustainable and the pressure on ecosystems must be considerably reduced” — to ensure those opportunities are taken up in the longer term. It also said the Commission would work on “disincentivising inefficient biomass combustion” and substituting it with other types of renewable energy. That rankled industry lobbies. Craig Winneker, communications director of ethanol lobby ePURE, complained that the document’s language “continues an unfortunate tradition in some quarters of the Commission of completely ignoring how sustainable biofuels are produced in Europe,” arguing that the energy is “actually a co-product along with food, feed, and biogenic CO2.” Now, those lines pledging to reduce environmental pressures and to disincentivize inefficient biomass combustion are gone. “Bioenergy continues to play a role in energy security, particularly where it uses residues, does not increase water and air pollution, and complements other renewables,” the final text reads. “This is a crucial omission, given that the EU’s unsustainable production and consumption are already massively overshooting ecological boundaries and putting people, nature and businesses at risk,” said the EEB. Delara Burkhardt, a member of the European Parliament with the center-left Socialists and Democrats, said it was “good that the strategy recognizes the need to source biomass sustainably,” but added the proposal did not address sufficiency. “Simply replacing fossil materials with bio-based ones at today’s levels of consumption risks increasing pressure on ecosystems. That shifts problems rather than solving them. We need to reduce overall resource use, not just switch inputs,” she said. Roswall declined to comment on the previous draft at Thursday’s press conference. “I think that we need to increase the resources that we have, and that is what this strategy is trying to do,” she said.

COPENHAGEN — Connie Hedegaard remembers when climate was Europe’s great unifier. More than a decade ago, as the EU’s first climate commissioner, she helped turn carbon policy into a pillar of Brussels’ power and a point of pride for the bloc. But with southern Europe now burning and Brussels pivoting to a new mantra of security and competitiveness, she worries the tide is turning — with dire ramifications. “When people lose their homes or their families to extreme weather, they don’t just suffer loss, they also lose trust in decision-makers,” Hedegaard told POLITICO on the sidelines of an organic farming summit. “That mistrust is what feeds polarization.” And she didn’t mince words about the industry giants and other actors she says are responsible for stalling progress. “I remember when BP called itself ‘Beyond Petroleum,’” she said, citing the giant British oil firm. “Now they are backtracking. They should be ashamed of themselves.”  The warning by the Danish national, who led the European Commission’s newly established climate wing between 2010 and 2014, comes more than a year after far-right parties surged in the European election, capitalizing on voter anger over inflation and green rules.  Eight months into Ursula von der Leyen’s second term atop the Commission, her ambitious Green Deal climate and environmental agenda has become a political punching bag, with national governments pushing for looser targets and industry lobbying to slow the pace of change. But Hedegaard argued that treating the Green Deal as a burden in tough times is a dangerous miscalculation.  “For Europe, climate and security are interlinked. I think most people can see it when they look at our energy dependency and the need for transformation of our energy systems,” she said. “If policymakers fail to act, they risk fueling the very populism they claim to fear.” CLIMATE REALITY From last year’s “monster” floods in Spain to this summer’s fires in Cyprus and southern France, climate disasters have battered Europe with increased scale and frequency. In Scandinavia, July’s record-breaking heat left hospitals overwhelmed and even drove reindeer into cities in search of shade. The European Environment Agency estimates such disasters have already cost the continent nearly half a trillion euros over the past four decades. In Scandinavia, July’s record-breaking heat left hospitals overwhelmed and even drove reindeer into cities in search of shade. | Jouni Porsanger/Lehtikuva/AFP via Getty Images Hedegaard is no stranger to political battles. A former Danish minister and longtime center-right politician, she cut her teeth in Copenhagen before moving to Brussels in 2010. Remembered in EU corridors for her direct and conversational style, honed by an early career as a journalist, Hedegaard is blunt in her assessments. Her pointed attack on BP, for instance, comes after the company scaled back its renewable energy investments while raising annual spending on oil and gas — reversing the climate pledges the firm once trumpeted. BP did not respond to a request for comment. Hedegaard’s remarks also come as climate lawsuits mount around the world. Last month, the International Court of Justice ruled that governments can be held legally responsible for failing to act on climate change, a decision that could also embolden challenges against corporations. Since leaving Brussels, Hedegaard has taken on several roles in climate policy and sustainability, including chairing the European Climate Foundation. But her post-EU career has not been without controversy. In 2016, she joined Volkswagen’s new Sustainability Council, a move critics said risked greenwashing in the wake of the carmaker’s emission-cheating Dieselgate scandal. She defended the role as unpaid and aimed at pushing the company to clean up its act. For von der Leyen, Hedegaard has an unvarnished message: Don’t blink. “She has stood firm so far. She must continue to do that,” she said of the EU executive president. Hedegaard also warned that Europe can’t afford to stall while China pours billions into climate-friendly technology. “If Europe hesitates while others go full speed, we risk losing the industries of the future,” she said. A climate pact with Beijing last month was hailed as a diplomatic win, but underscored how cooperation is increasingly entangled with rivalry over who will dominate the supply chain. Closer to home, Hedegaard pointed to farming as one of the EU’s most immediate levers. She argued that the Common Agricultural Policy, which consumes around a third of the EU budget, could be used more forcefully to drive the green transition while cutting red tape for the smallest farmers. “It takes courage,” she said, “but agriculture is one of the sectors where we actually have the tools to act.” “This is not the time to hesitate or foot-drag,” she added. “It is time to deliver.”

LONDON — The Green Party has never been so successful. So, naturally, they are having a big internal fight. Fresh from winning a record four members of parliament at last year’s general election, members want the green shoots to keep growing — but can’t agree how. A leadership election happens for the Greens every two years, and sometimes sees the incumbent re-elected unopposed. This time, though, there’s a challenger, set on sparking a proper battle of ideas from the left. Adrian Ramsay has co-led the Greens since 2021 and is running again on a joint ticket with Ellie Chowns, who replaces outgoing Co-Leader Carla Denyer. All three were elected to the House of Commons in the 2024 general election, alongside former Co-Leader Siân Berry, marking the best parliamentary night for the Green Party in its history. Left-wing insurgent Zack Polanski is the challenger, standing against the pair from outside parliament. The party’s current deputy leader, Polanski has served in the London Assembly since 2021 — and thinks a more radical message will strengthen the Greens’ appeal. As Britain gets used to five-party politics, the Greens consistently poll around 10 percent. This could provide crucial leverage after the next election and give Labour, elected on a landslide last year but struggling in the polls, a bloody nose. WESTMINSTER: EMBRACE OR SHUN?   Whoever wins, party members want to maximize their influence if voters deliver an uncertain verdict.  Since its founding as the PEOPLE Party in 1972, the Greens have rejected the traditional political mold. They only created a leader position in 2007, don’t have a whipping system, and had no MPs in Westminster until 2010. Yet after quadrupling their number of Commons seats, Ramsay believes utilizing the center of power might not be so bad after all — and makes a case for playing the Westminster game. “If you’re not there in the heart of British political debate, you’re not able to hold the prime minister to account [and] challenge the government,” Ramsay told POLITICO. “We are the ones that are in practise … representing the party’s positions.”  Ramsay argued that keeping two MPs in charge of the party — visible in parliament, invited on to the airwaves — means it can influence politics “from a position of strength.”  Left-wing insurgent Zack Polanski is the challenger, standing against the pair from outside parliament. | Lucy North/PA Images via Getty Images Polanski, by contrast, is trading on his outsider status. While he promises to work closely with the four MPs, he sees the party’s future beyond Westminster. “Parliament is the means to get to the end, which is to transform society,” he told POLITICO. “But you don’t just transform society in parliament.” He wants to prioritize community organizing to win over people “who aren’t even in the party yet, because they don’t think politics is really going to change anything.” Polanski said that if he wins the leadership election — which wraps up September 2 — then MPs would still elect a parliamentary leader, allowing a balance of Westminster representation and a leader able to travel around the country and tap into that grassroots energy. For Ramsay, that idea is simply impractical, and risks mixed messages. The incumbent co-leader highlights Polanski’s support for Britain leaving NATO — which is not Green Party policy. “There’s a reason why mature, impactful, successful parties at the heart of British political debate have their leaders in parliament,” Ramsay said. “We need to be part of the center of British politics, not fighting on the sidelines.” POWERS OF PERSUASION Ramsay and Chowns won their rural seats from the Conservatives last July. They are pushing for the party to continue a strategy which they argue is paying dividends. “Carla and I came in with a very clear strategic focus, and we made sure all of the party’s efforts and strategy was aligned behind that,” Ramsay argues. “It would be crazy to throw that out.” But another core Green demographic is in urban areas. Denyer, the outgoing co-leader, bagged her Bristol Central seat in 2024 by defeating Labour frontbencher Thangam Debbonaire in the traditionally progressive city, sprinkling some rare rain on Labour’s election parade. The Greens came second to Labour in 39 constituencies, including 18 London seats. “That’s obviously the first place to start” when targeting more seats, Polanski argued. He said building a coalition of former Labour and Tory voters alongside previous non-voters could only happen “by being deeply embedded in communities” — and suggested the current leadership was not rising to the challenge posed by populist parties on the right like Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.   “We need to take action quickly,” he said. “Incremental change is just not going to cut it. We need to move much faster.”  “Anyone who feels that you can appeal in an urban area just by focusing your effort on a narrow demographic is not realistic,” Ramsay retorts. FOLLOWING FARAGE The Greens agree with Farage on very little (maybe apart from electoral reform.) But they might mimic Reform UK’s model for growth. Pollster Scarlett Maguire, director of Merlin Strategy, said the party’s steady uptick in the polls mirrors Reform’s gradual rise under its last leader Richard Tice, which demonstrated the “organic desire” for a populist party in the U.K. Maguire believes there is “huge potential in the country for a more Momentum-[Jeremy]-Corbyn-like Green Party” which targeted an urban, younger left-wing base. Momentum is the left-wing campaign group who helped propel Corbyn to the top of the Labour Party — although the party sank to an historic low under his leadership in the 2019 election. The Greens could also expand by embracing Labour exiles and outsider MPs. Independent MPs, including Corbyn himself and suspended Labour left-winger Zarah Sultana, might be sympathetic to a Green message under Polanski’s leadership. Polanski has been wooing Sultana for a potential defection since as long ago as last September, when he said he would “love to see her join the Green Party.” Sultana did not respond to a request for comment. Anyone who backs Green values, including in parliament, should join the party, Polanski said: “I don’t think it helps anyone for the left to be further fractured or to be creating further silos.” Yet the strategy runs exactly that risk: the Greens could split the center-left vote, just as Reform did against the Tories last year, and make a progressive government harder. “The Greens have the potential to be a really big spoiler for Labour,” Maguire said. “If you think about how … [Farage’s old outfit] UKIP worked as a pressure party on the Conservatives, it wasn’t about the MPs returned. It was about the pressure they could place on them from splitting their votes.” Party figures insist that if they vote Green, they’ll get Green.  “Greens have been elected basically all around the country under all kinds of different conditions, all kinds of different seats,” said peer and former Leader Natalie Bennett, who isn’t endorsing a candidate in this race. That message matches the one coming from fellow insurgent Farage, who held a press conference last month pushing the slogan “Vote Reform, get Reform.” “At a time when people are turning away from the political establishment like never before … Greens are there to be the ones offering a real alternative to Reform,” said Ramsay. “The voters are really, really hungry for something different,” said Bennett. “We’ve got to make sure that we give them great stories, great narratives, and a great overall picture.” Additional reporting by Abby Wallace.

YELLOW HAT REVOLT: INSIDE FRANCE’S RURAL RISING With rural discontent growing, Marine Le Pen’s far-right party sees an opportunity ahead of the 2027 presidential election. By MARION SOLLETY in AUCH, France Photo-illustration by Andrei Cojocaru for POLITICO Standing on the stage, Serge Bousquet-Cassagne looked down solemnly at his protégé, pointing his arm at him for all the farmers and their families to see. “I make you general of the army of the serfs,” the 65-year-old leader said in a makeshift ceremony organized to honor regional leader Lionel Candelon, who stood before him in a large concrete hall on the outskirts of Auch, southwestern France. Hundreds had gathered to celebrate a landmark victory for their movement: the Coordination rurale union, known for its signature yellow hats, had made unprecedented gains in February’s farming union elections, breaking the hegemony of the establishment FNSEA in representing farmers in France and Brussels. Bousquet-Cassagne’s grand gesture — elevating Candelon to general — was both a nod to his military background and suited the farming union’s muscular style. Advertisement The movement has been at the forefront of recent farmers’ protests in France, outflanking the FNSEA with hard-hitting action, ranging from confrontations with President Emmanuel Macron to setting manure on fire in front of government buildings, drawing criticism for what rivals say are intimidation tactics. That evening however, the crowd was in a cheery mood, celebrating past coups d’éclat and triumphs yet to come at long banquet tables decked out with yellow paper napkins and soon laid with roasted duck breast and red wine. DEEP SOUTH The movement was born 40 kilometers from Auch, in the heart of Gascony, a land of soft hills and green pastures just to the north of the Spanish border that is famed for its foie gras, Armagnac brandy — and strong headed people. Bousquet-Cassagne has made a trademark of his bullish manners and disregard for the law, boasting 17 court appearances over the years for actions ranging from vandalizing supermarkets to illegally constructing water basins used for irrigation. Serge Bousquet-Cassagne is one of the union’s figures most closely associated with the French political far right. | Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images “In this country if you don’t burn cars you don’t get acknowledged,” he said at the rally. “And you get fucked.” Bousquet-Cassagne is also one of the union’s figures most closely associated with the French political far right, having called National Rally President Jordan Bardella “their last hope.” His outspoken support for the party, along with that of other Coordination rurale figures, has fueled speculation about the union’s symbiotic relationship with Marine Le Pen’s party as large chunks of the French countryside have swung to the far right over the last couple of years. France’s rural heartlands have been a big reservoir for growth for the National Rally over the past couple of years. After winning over disaffected industrial areas, the party has sought to capitalize on rural discontent and hardship, blaming mainstream parties for failed farming policies and accusing Brussels of exposing EU markets to cheaper and inferior foreign produce. Support for nationalist parties is especially high among the ranks of the yellow hats: Sixty-two percent of them expressed support for the National Rally or the more extreme Reconquête in a poll conducted ahead of last June’s European election by research institutes Cevipof and INP Ensat. That compared with 31 percent of supporters of the FNSEA — the National Federation of Agricultural Holders’ Unions — slightly below the far right’s actual vote share of the voting public. While not everyone in the movement approves of Bousquet-Cassagne’s style and outspoken support for the far right, most see him as a strong leader and a role model. As he sipped his drink and greeted union members in Auch, Bousquet-Cassagne constantly interrupted himself to greet supporters, calling them “thugs!” and “terrorists!” in jest. Many approached for advice, especially on building water basins for irrigation, as access to water has become a huge point of contention with environmentalists and local authorities as the weather grows drier and hotter in the region due to climate change. Advertisement “When you’ll have built one the rest will follow,” he told one of them, “even if jail time is what it takes.” Other yellow hat leaders have been at pains to soften its image in recent months and push back against the idea that the union has ties to the far right. “They are using us, and we are maybe using them too, that’s part of the game” said Coordination rurale Vice-President Sophie Lenaerts. “If we can push our values and our positions… We will do that with everyone. Some are just taking in more than others.” Le Pen has gained support among farmers, a traditionally moderate constituency, and more broadly in rural areas where farming and food issues carry political weight way beyond farmers themselves. Even as the far right struggles to build support in urban areas, the French countryside is shaping up to be a battleground ahead of the 2027 presidential election. The French countryside is shaping up to be a battleground ahead of the 2027 presidential election. | Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images As she crisscrossed Paris’ annual Salon International de L’Agriculture in February, lending a sympathetic ear to farmer’s economic struggles and vowing to support them, visitors greeted Le Pen with cheers, asking for selfies and shouting “Marine Présidente!” as she walked between cow pens to pet the salon’s other star, Oupette, a one-ton brown Limousine heifer. Days before, Bardella also made sure to pay a visit to the Coordination rurale stand in the corner of one of the seven giant halls, a must for politicians this year. ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT PUSH The movement was born in the early 1990s to protest a landmark reform of the EU’s flagship Common Agricultural Policy that introduced direct subsidies for farmers in lieu of guaranteed prices, tying them to environmental protection measures. Long in the shadow of the dominant FNSEA, Coordination rurale seized the initiative during last year’s large-scale farmers’ protests, with tractor convoys rolling into cities to protest against environmental rules, as well as a hike in fuel prices and cheap agricultural imports coming from other European countries, including Ukraine. The union came out on top in 14 of the country’s 101 agricultural chambers in February’s farming elections, up from just three in the last election in 2019, giving it a much more prominent voice in discussions with the government over farming policy, where FNSEA used to be the dominant player. Agriculture chambers also have wide-ranging prerogatives at the local level, ranging from administrative support to farmers to supporting the implementation of farming and environmental policies. While aligned with the FNSEA on some issues, including opposing free trade agreements, the Coordination rurale has taken a more radical stance on others, clashing with environmentalists on water use or reducing the use of pesticides, and slamming what they say is overregulation from the EU and the central government. The union’s leaders have repeatedly framed the FNSEA as part of the establishment, working hand in hand with politicians in Paris and Brussels. Yellow hat candidates have made huge gains in farmlands facing intense economic hardship, including the Bordeaux region, where winemakers who produce for export face another hit from Donald Trump’s trade war. The American president threatened to hike duties on EU exports of wines and spirits to 200 percent if Brussels retaliated against his own duties by hitting U.S. whiskey. Brussels backed down. Advertisement Trump’s trade aggression and competition from countries such as Ukraine were major talking points at the agri fair, with the union’s leaders calling for more protectionist measures. “It’s a dream to hear a head of state saying he wants to protect producers and his citizens,” said Lenaerts, speaking of Trump’s protectionist push ahead of his wine tariffs announcement. “The character in itself doesn’t make me dream … but I like his attitude towards his country.” SURGE IN THE POLLS Support for both the yellow hats union and Marine Le Pen’s party has surged in many parts of rural France, including in Gers, the administrative district to which Auch belongs. The National Rally got 35 percent of the vote in last June’s snap parliamentary election, called by Macron after his liberals were wiped out in the European vote. That was up 15 percentage points from two years ago in a region that used to be a stronghold of the Social Democrats. Beyond the scenic view over limestone farmhouses and villages, there is one extra perk to driving around the countryside here: you won’t get a speeding ticket. The movement was born in the early 1990s to protest a landmark reform of the EU’s flagship Common Agricultural Policy. | Arnaud Finistre/AFP via Getty Images Local yellow hat protesters covered all of the area’s speed cameras with tractor tires and fertilizer bags, a signature move that Candelon boasted about on stage at the union’s gathering, saying he and his supporters had disabled 179 of them. Candelon, a former soldier turned duck farmer and father of three, rose to local fame in 2017 when he mounted protests against what he said was unfair competition from Central European countries, protesting against Bulgarian duck meat imports on local supermarket shelves in front of TV cameras. He quickly rose through the ranks after joining the local Coordination rurale section, and was elected as president of the local agriculture chamber under the union’s banner in February’s farming election. The 38-year-old has also had his share of legal troubles. In 2023, he was fined over online death threats made against local veterinary officials — which Candelon called a one-time slip-up linked to intense pressure after repeated cullings linked to bird flu outbreaks at his farm. He was also questioned by police last year after he and several union members sealed the entrance of the local French Biodiversity Office’s building. The environment agency, in charge of upholding rules on pesticides use and water protection, has been among the union’s recurring targets. The agency denounced the attacks on its agents as “unacceptable” after a member of the Coordination rurale reportedly threatened to torch its vehicles if they set foot on a farm. Sylvie Colas, a spokesperson for the left-leaning union Confederation paysanne and local opponent of Candelon who filed a complaint against him over alleged verbal threats — which he denies — says the union leaders’ “intimidation” tactics have had a chilling effect on locals and public agents alike. “I can’t imagine an agent [from the French Biodiversity Office] making an inspection visit to a farmer in Gers these days,” she said. “It’s Trumpism. There is a constant escalation, to the point where you get the impression that the administration just lies down, says nothing and lets it happen,” she added. Advertisement Candelon says he rejects physical violence, but that punchy actions are necessary to make farmers’ voices heard, standing by the targeting of speeding cameras and other stunts aiming at “emmerder l’État” (pissing off the government). “We know that when we piss off the government, things start moving. So we are going to keep it up.” ‘LEAVE US THE HELL ALONE’ Local farmers praise Candelon’s leadership and visibility, saying it contrasts with the FNSEA’s inability to improve their working conditions over the years. David Palacin, a 47-year-old cattle farmer from the village of Dému, near Auch, says he was never unionized before seeing Candelon in action. A blockade on a local road during last year’s protests was the rallying moment for him and several of his neighbors. Local farmers praise Lionel Candelon’s leadership and visibility. | Valentine Chapuis/AFP via Getty Images “We stayed for 15 days, day and night,” he recalls, with neighbors and family members taking over during the day when farmers had to get some work done in the fields. Palacin says he was unaware of connections with the far right at the top of the movement, which he doesn’t endorse, but that exasperation over the status quo led many to turn to the communication-savvy activists of Coordination rurale. “We’re not being heard,” said Palacin in his office, a stone’s throw away from his farm’s large open air stalls that house some 200 brown Limousine cows. Unlike some of his struggling neighbours, Palacin has built a diversified business employing 15 people, breeding cattle, selling their meat in his two local butcher shops and shipping young males to Spain and Italy. He is acutely aware of upcoming challenges for local farmers, who face competition from neighbouring countries as well as the EU’s trade partners. “Soy from Brazil is getting in, [while] we’ll soon be banned from even using glyphosate,” Palacin said. “At some point you have to be coherent,” pointing at the deal reached between the EU and the Latin American Mercosur trade bloc which French farmers say will open the floodgates to cheaper products that don’t meet the environmental standards that they have to meet. Palacin says French farmers should also be encouraged to compete for mass agricultural markets. Advertisement “Everyone going organic is not going to feed the planet,” he adds, pointing at local opposition to a large-scale poultry farm project in the village of Lannepax. “If we don’t produce it, other countries will, and it will get in.” A short drive down the hill, Grégory Julien, a fellow Coordination rurale member and cereal producer, says top-down environmental rules play a big part in the local farmers’ revolt. “Rules are being imposed on us that make no sense on the ground,” he says, citing periodic bans on hedge trimming meant to protect bird nesting. Opposition to environmentalists and what they say is a government overreach is a regular theme in the union’s slogans, with many of its members standing opposite to green activists in local conflicts around water management. Standing on the stage, Serge Bousquet-Cassagne looked down solemnly at his protégé, pointing his arm at him for all the farmers and their families to see. “I make you general of the army of the serfs,” the 65-year-old leader said in a makeshift ceremony organized to honor regional leader Lionel Candelon, who stood before him in a large concrete hall on the outskirts of Auch, southwestern France. Hundreds had gathered to celebrate a landmark victory for their movement: the Coordination rurale union, known for its signature yellow hats, had made unprecedented gains in February’s farming union elections, breaking the hegemony of the establishment FNSEA in representing farmers in France and Brussels. Bousquet-Cassagne’s grand gesture — elevating Candelon to general — was both a nod to his military background and suited the farming union’s muscular style. The movement has been at the forefront of recent farmers’ protests in France, outflanking the FNSEA with hard-hitting action, ranging from confrontations with President Emmanuel Macron to setting manure on fire in front of government buildings, drawing criticism for what rivals say are intimidation tactics. That evening however, the crowd was in a cheery mood, celebrating past coups d’éclat and triumphs yet to come at long banquet tables decked out with yellow paper napkins and soon laid with roasted duck breast and red wine. DEEP SOUTH The movement was born 40 kilometers from Auch, in the heart of Gascony, a land of soft hills and green pastures just to the north of the Spanish border that is famed for its foie gras, Armagnac brandy — and strong headed people. Advertisement Bousquet-Cassagne has made a trademark of his bullish manners and disregard for the law, boasting 17 court appearances over the years for actions ranging from vandalizing supermarkets to illegally constructing water basins used for irrigation. “In this country if you don’t burn cars you don’t get acknowledged,” he said at the rally. “And you get fucked.” Bousquet-Cassagne is also one of the union’s figures most closely associated with the French political far right, having called National Rally President Jordan Bardella “their last hope.” His outspoken support for the party, along with that of other Coordination rurale figures, has fueled speculation about the union’s symbiotic relationship with Marine Le Pen’s party as large chunks of the French countryside have swung to the far right over the last couple of years. Yellow hat candidates have made huge gains in farmlands facing intense economic hardship. | Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images France’s rural heartlands have been a big reservoir for growth for the National Rally over the past couple of years. After winning over disaffected industrial areas, the party has sought to capitalize on rural discontent and hardship, blaming mainstream parties for failed farming policies and accusing Brussels of exposing EU markets to cheaper and inferior foreign produce. Support for nationalist parties is especially high among the ranks of the yellow hats: Sixty-two percent of them expressed support for the National Rally or the more extreme Reconquête in a poll conducted ahead of last June’s European election by research institutes Cevipof and INP Ensat. That compared with 31 percent of supporters of the FNSEA — the National Federation of Agricultural Holders’ Unions — slightly below the far right’s actual vote share of the voting public. While not everyone in the movement approves of Bousquet-Cassagne’s style and outspoken support for the far right, most see him as a strong leader and a role model. As he sipped his drink and greeted union members in Auch, Bousquet-Cassagne constantly interrupted himself to greet supporters, calling them “thugs!” and “terrorists!” in jest. Many approached for advice, especially on building water basins for irrigation, as access to water has become a huge point of contention with environmentalists and local authorities as the weather grows drier and hotter in the region due to climate change. “When you’ll have built one the rest will follow,” he told one of them, “even if jail time is what it takes.” Other yellow hat leaders have been at pains to soften its image in recent months and push back against the idea that the union has ties to the far right. “They are using us, and we are maybe using them too, that’s part of the game” said Coordination rurale Vice-President Sophie Lenaerts. “If we can push our values and our positions… We will do that with everyone. Some are just taking in more than others.” Advertisement Le Pen has gained support among farmers, a traditionally moderate constituency, and more broadly in rural areas where farming and food issues carry political weight way beyond farmers themselves. Even as the far right struggles to build support in urban areas, the French countryside is shaping up to be a battleground ahead of the 2027 presidential election. As she crisscrossed Paris’ annual Salon International de L’Agriculture in February, lending a sympathetic ear to farmer’s economic struggles and vowing to support them, visitors greeted Le Pen with cheers, asking for selfies and shouting “Marine Présidente!” as she walked between cow pens to pet the salon’s other star, Oupette, a one-ton brown Limousine heifer. Days before, Bardella also made sure to pay a visit to the Coordination rurale stand in the corner of one of the seven giant halls, a must for politicians this year. ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT PUSH The movement was born in the early 1990s to protest a landmark reform of the EU’s flagship Common Agricultural Policy that introduced direct subsidies for farmers in lieu of guaranteed prices, tying them to environmental protection measures. Long in the shadow of the dominant FNSEA, Coordination rurale seized the initiative during last year’s large-scale farmers’ protests, with tractor convoys rolling into cities to protest against environmental rules, as well as a hike in fuel prices and cheap agricultural imports coming from other European countries, including Ukraine. The union came out on top in 14 of the country’s 101 agricultural chambers in February’s farming elections, up from just three in the last election in 2019, giving it a much more prominent voice in discussions with the government over farming policy, where FNSEA used to be the dominant player. Agriculture chambers also have wide-ranging prerogatives at the local level, ranging from administrative support to farmers to supporting the implementation of farming and environmental policies. The union came out on top in 14 of the country’s 101 agricultural chambers in February’s farming elections. | Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images While aligned with the FNSEA on some issues, including opposing free trade agreements, the Coordination rurale has taken a more radical stance on others, clashing with environmentalists on water use or reducing the use of pesticides, and slamming what they say is overregulation from the EU and the central government. The union’s leaders have repeatedly framed the FNSEA as part of the establishment, working hand in hand with politicians in Paris and Brussels. Yellow hat candidates have made huge gains in farmlands facing intense economic hardship, including the Bordeaux region, where winemakers who produce for export face another hit from Donald Trump’s trade war. The American president threatened to hike duties on EU exports of wines and spirits to 200 percent if Brussels retaliated against his own duties by hitting U.S. whiskey. Brussels backed down. Trump’s trade aggression and competition from countries such as Ukraine were major talking points at the agri fair, with the union’s leaders calling for more protectionist measures. “It’s a dream to hear a head of state saying he wants to protect producers and his citizens,” said Lenaerts, speaking of Trump’s protectionist push ahead of his wine tariffs announcement. “The character in itself doesn’t make me dream … but I like his attitude towards his country.” SURGE IN THE POLLS Support for both the yellow hats union and Marine Le Pen’s party has surged in many parts of rural France, including in Gers, the administrative district to which Auch belongs. The National Rally got 35 percent of the vote in last June’s snap parliamentary election, called by Macron after his liberals were wiped out in the European vote. That was up 15 percentage points from two years ago in a region that used to be a stronghold of the Social Democrats. Advertisement Beyond the scenic view over limestone farmhouses and villages, there is one extra perk to driving around the countryside here: you won’t get a speeding ticket. Local yellow hat protesters covered all of the area’s speed cameras with tractor tires and fertilizer bags, a signature move that Candelon boasted about on stage at the union’s gathering, saying he and his supporters had disabled 179 of them. Candelon, a former soldier turned duck farmer and father of three, rose to local fame in 2017 when he mounted protests against what he said was unfair competition from Central European countries, protesting against Bulgarian duck meat imports on local supermarket shelves in front of TV cameras. He quickly rose through the ranks after joining the local Coordination rurale section, and was elected as president of the local agriculture chamber under the union’s banner in February’s farming election. Candelon says he rejects physical violence, but that punchy actions are necessary to make farmers’ voices heard. | Olivier Chassignlole/AFP via Getty Images The 38-year-old has also had his share of legal troubles. In 2023, he was fined over online death threats made against local veterinary officials — which Candelon called a one-time slip-up linked to intense pressure after repeated cullings linked to bird flu outbreaks at his farm. He was also questioned by police last year after he and several union members sealed the entrance of the local French Biodiversity Office’s building. The environment agency, in charge of upholding rules on pesticides use and water protection, has been among the union’s recurring targets. The agency denounced the attacks on its agents as “unacceptable” after a member of the Coordination rurale reportedly threatened to torch its vehicles if they set foot on a farm. Sylvie Colas, a spokesperson for the left-leaning union Confederation paysanne and local opponent of Candelon who filed a complaint against him over alleged verbal threats — which he denies — says the union leaders’ “intimidation” tactics have had a chilling effect on locals and public agents alike. “I can’t imagine an agent [from the French Biodiversity Office] making an inspection visit to a farmer in Gers these days,” she said. “It’s Trumpism. There is a constant escalation, to the point where you get the impression that the administration just lies down, says nothing and lets it happen,” she added. Candelon says he rejects physical violence, but that punchy actions are necessary to make farmers’ voices heard, standing by the targeting of speeding cameras and other stunts aiming at “emmerder l’État” (pissing off the government). “We know that when we piss off the government, things start moving. So we are going to keep it up.” ‘LEAVE US THE HELL ALONE’ Local farmers praise Candelon’s leadership and visibility, saying it contrasts with the FNSEA’s inability to improve their working conditions over the years. David Palacin, a 47-year-old cattle farmer from the village of Dému, near Auch, says he was never unionized before seeing Candelon in action. A blockade on a local road during last year’s protests was the rallying moment for him and several of his neighbors. “We stayed for 15 days, day and night,” he recalls, with neighbors and family members taking over during the day when farmers had to get some work done in the fields. Palacin says he was unaware of connections with the far right at the top of the movement, which he doesn’t endorse, but that exasperation over the status quo led many to turn to the communication-savvy activists of Coordination rurale. “We’re not being heard,” said Palacin in his office, a stone’s throw away from his farm’s large open air stalls that house some 200 brown Limousine cows. Unlike some of his struggling neighbours, Palacin has built a diversified business employing 15 people, breeding cattle, selling their meat in his two local butcher shops and shipping young males to Spain and Italy. He is acutely aware of upcoming challenges for local farmers, who face competition from neighbouring countries as well as the EU’s trade partners. “Soy from Brazil is getting in, [while] we’ll soon be banned from even using glyphosate,” Palacin said. “At some point you have to be coherent,” pointing at the deal reached between the EU and the Latin American Mercosur trade bloc which French farmers say will open the floodgates to cheaper products that don’t meet the environmental standards that they have to meet. Palacin says French farmers should also be encouraged to compete for mass agricultural markets. “Everyone going organic is not going to feed the planet,” he adds, pointing at local opposition to a large-scale poultry farm project in the village of Lannepax. “If we don’t produce it, other countries will, and it will get in.” A short drive down the hill, Grégory Julien, a fellow Coordination rurale member and cereal producer, says top-down environmental rules play a big part in the local farmers’ revolt. “Rules are being imposed on us that make no sense on the ground,” he says, citing periodic bans on hedge trimming meant to protect bird nesting. Opposition to environmentalists and what they say is a government overreach is a regular theme in the union’s slogans, with many of its members standing opposite to green activists in local conflicts around water management. At the Auch gathering, Bousquet-Cassagne repeated one of his favorite mantras as he greeted supporters and harangued the crowd : “We are the best peasants in the world. Leave us the hell alone.”

BRUSSELS — The European Commission’s plan to slash bureaucracy for farmers risks hurting the planet. The EU executive wants to give out more cash to aid farmers hit by natural disasters while weakening the very green rules that are meant to safeguard the environment. That’s the main takeaway of a planned package of reforms to simplify EU farm policies, which account for over a third of the bloc’s total spending. It follows up on a major rollback of the Green Deal last year, as rural protests overshadowed campaigning for the European election last June. According to a draft seen by POLITICO, the agriculture simplification package would further scale back environmental controls on the disbursement of funds under the Common Agricultural Policy. It would also exempt smallholders from some checks and raise the cap on subsidy payments to small farms. “A better balance between requirements and incentives is needed for guiding the sustainability transition of farming and fostering innovation,” the EU executive writes in the preamble to an amending regulation that would scale back conditions applying to country-level CAP plans that have been up and running for a few years. Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen insisted ahead of the presentation of the reform on May 14 that the Commission would support the sector’s sustainability transition. “We cannot have a discussion on the future of agriculture without addressing resilience. Therefore it is important that we improve risk and crisis management to adapt to climate change,” he said in a speech on Thursday, adding that farmers should get more help “to restore their production potential” after natural disasters. The agriculture package — one of several “omnibus” measures to simplify EU regulation — arrives in the middle of a broader debate on future priorities. With the war in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump’s turn away from Europe, Ursula von der Leyen wants to put more emphasis on industrial competitiveness and international security. But with the Commission due to land a long-term budget plan in July for the period 2028-2034 to fund those priorities, its farm department, agriculture ministers and European lawmakers are all saying agriculture spending should rise, rather than be cut, to ensure that farming in Europe has an economic future. Hansen, a former beef farmer from Luxembourg, has vowed to defend these priorities and protect farmers from budget cuts. They are also a priority of his political family — the European People’s Party — that has positioned itself as the farmers’ champion. LOOSER STANDARDS The draft document proposes more flexibility in how farmers implement some green standards — known as good agricultural and environmental condition of land requirements, or GAECs — where compliance is tied to farm subsidy payouts. For example, it wants to make it easier for farmers to use permanent grasslands under GAEC 1, which are normally set aside to boost biodiversity and carbon sequestration. The draft would increase the maximum amount that can be lost from 5 to 10 percent compared to 2018, notably to take into account the needs of farms, such as increasing production. Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen insisted ahead of the presentation of the reform on May 14 that the Commission would support the sector’s sustainability transition. | Oliver Hoslet/EPA The document also foresees changing the definition of what is considered a “water course” in the standard related to the protection of water (GAEC 4). This could lead to fewer rivers meeting the definition to be protected and therefore fewer buffer strips being put in place to prevent agricultural pollution and runoffs. When it comes to protecting wetlands and peatlands under GAEC 2, the Commission acknowledges that the obligation can “be costly for farmers” and “significantly limit their capacity to change or adjust the use of their land.” Therefore, it proposes to allow member countries to better compensate farmers for this work without increasing protection requirements. An EU official suggested the simplification package could have hurt the Green Deal more, noting pressure from EU member countries to cut green requirements even further. The official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, disputed that the legislation compromised the credibility of the Green Deal, arguing that it makes the system for implementing the CAP’s green standards more feasible, realistic and focused on incentives. DISASTER RELIEF In the short run, the Commission wants to make it easier for EU governments to hand out cash to support farmers hit by climate impacts, such as flooding and drought. The proposal foresees the creation of two new funds and would authorize direct payments to “enable the most affected farmers to be compensated rapidly.” National authorities should also set a “higher rate of compensation” for farmers who are covered by insurance or other risk management tools, according to the document. The system of conditionality, which restricts how national authorities can disburse CAP funding contributing to the protection of nature, the environment and climate, “should not apply to complementary payments to farmers following natural disasters, adverse climatic events or catastrophic events under direct payments,” the document adds. The simplification follows an 18-month policy process that von der Leyen initiated by holding a Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture that came up with an extensive catalog of policy recommendations. These were then poured into Hansen’s own Vision for Agriculture and Food in February. The simplification measures respond to some recommendations from the strategic dialogue, notably on the need to promote organic farming. But they appear to clash with others, such as more action to “facilitate the adaptation of agriculture to changing climatic and environmental conditions, … practices to advance towards water-resilient and less resource intensive farming.”

RUNCORN, England — A small corner of northwest England could upend British politics. Just don’t expect residents to get excited. Keir Starmer faces his biggest electoral test as prime minister at the Runcorn and Helsby by-election on May 1. Last year, the party got 52.9 percent support and a majority of more than 14,000 in the Cheshire seat. In normal times, victory should be a walk in the park. But these are not normal times.  Mike Amesbury, the previous MP, resigned from the Commons after pleading guilty to assault by beating, having punched a constituent to the ground in the early hours of Oct. 26 last year for which he received a suspended prison sentence. Labour has thrown the kitchen sink at keeping the seat, with flocks of activists and MPs adding their signatures to the walls of campaign HQ to show support.  But Nigel Farage’s insurgent Reform UK espies an opening after finishing second in 2024 on 18.1 percent.  “Reform are parking their tanks on the lawns of the red wall,” the right-wing populist told activists during the wider local election campaign. Street stalls, door-knocking and reams of election leaflets are all fixtures of the Reform by-election circus. The right-wing populist party’s gains last year were all in Tory seats, but the Reform UK leader is desperate to show he can also win Labour areas as he dreams of Downing Street in 2029. The prospect of a big political upheaval has Westminster on tenterhooks and draws significant national attention to a very local contest. But it hasn’t exactly whetted the appetites of constituents for the winning candidate. On the contrary, they shrug, roll their eyes and say whichever rosette triumphs, things are unlikely to change.  ‘DUMPING GROUND‘ Runcorn is a town only two hours from London — yet couldn’t feel further from Westminster. Deindustrialization of its former thriving chemicals industry has left the area struggling to find its feet. Numerous retail units have shutters down during the day, newspaper cuttings fill windows, and graffiti is prolific. A Union Jack by the canal droops opposite a funeral directory.  While there are spots of beauty — the river Mersey separating Runcorn from Widnes, and the green Silver Jubilee Bridge connecting them — decay and neglect are everywhere. “Nothing is going to change,” says one resident in the Local Federation of the Blind charity shop. A fellow attendee dismisses politicians as “thieving liars” who only care about their “own pockets.” A third describes politics as a “game of chess.” Like some of the other members of the public quoted in this piece, they were granted anonymity to speak candidly about the contest. Against that backdrop of political mistrust, Reform think they stand a chance. Their candidate Sarah Pochin, a former magistrate and councilor, built her campaign around change — the word Labour used last year to great effect after years of Conservative rule. “People are really fed up with Labour. They feel totally let down by Labour,” she said at Reform’s campaign HQ, which sits among charity shops and a Cash Converters pawn shop in Runcorn Shopping City. Keir Starmer faces his biggest electoral test as prime minister at the Runcorn and Helsby by-election on May 1. | Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images The walls are full of teal branding and posters of Pochin and Farage. Piles of bundled leaflets on the floor and the tables await delivery.  “People are very, very disillusioned,” Pochin declared. “They feel like they’re not being listened to. They feel like Runcorn is a dumping ground because they haven’t got a voice to say ‘enough is enough.’”  But the disconnect goes wider than Runcorn. One Age UK worker, in between sorting stock and serving customers, said the “north, east and west as a whole are left out” of politics. Whoever claims to be a better voice for the region in Westminster will ultimately win. LABOR OF LOVE Given the circumstances, Labour are down — but far from out. The party is determined to stop Farage’s rhetoric from translating into a win at the ballot box.  Their candidate — councilor and former teacher Karen Shore — is confident of her chances during a meeting at Zucca, an independent cafe in the nearby town of Frodsham. It’s bustling at lunchtime with an outdoor flower display and banner advertising their organic coffee. “There’s so much to work on, so much to do,” Shore said. “I just want to roll up my sleeves and get stuck in.”  Emphasizing her localism, Shore claimed the doorstep response hadn’t felt “overwhelmingly negative” despite the national picture.  Questioned about whether a Reform MP could improve accountability by challenging the government from outside rather than follow the Labour whip, Shore was unrepentant.  “It’s really straightforward for me because if I’m a Labour MP, I’m going to be part of the party that’s in government and can get things done.”  She added: “That’s what MPs are there for: to deliver for their communities, as opposed to sitting on the outside throwing stones … and maybe not necessarily achieving anything.”  Nigel Farage arrives on a tractor in Frodsham as he and Reform by-election candidate Sarah Pochin visit Runcorn on April 17, 2025 in Frodsham, England. | Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Frodsham is a pleasant market town surrounded by wind turbines and birdsong. Streets are well maintained with flower beds in boxes on the pavement, old-fashioned lamp posts and a freshly painted red phone box. A signpost by the railway bridge highlighted its heritage, with pictures of earlier settlements as well as plaques from Cheshire Community Council naming Frodsham winner of the best-kept village competition in 2001. But despite its beauty, residents felt the same political despair. “[I] don’t think there’s anybody left worth voting for,” said a worker at Roy’s Relics, a memorabilia shop selling coins, necklaces, CDs, DVDs, vinyl records and camouflage. He claimed the north “100 percent gets ignored,” a sentiment echoed by others. Workers instead got on with their lives beyond politics. One Post Office employee said they were “too tired” to follow the by-election despite plenty of leaflets. A convenience store assistant said they avoided the news by not having internet at home.  The contest reaching fever-pitch in Westminster simply hums in the background.  HITTING A BRICK WALL  The winner will get a fanfare of media attention after the result. Then the hard work starts.  One person they’ll likely have to work with is businessman John Lewis, who manages Runcorn’s Heath Business and Technical Park. Formerly a chemicals plant, the 57-acre site has more than 100 businesses supporting more than 2,000 jobs. Rows of 1960s brutalist buildings with looming windows stretch over what feels like miles. Supportive staff help run a community garden with a small pond and space for plants. Lewis plans to go further by creating Heath Park, an environmentally friendly development with more than 500 homes, a vertical farm and leisure spaces. Yet despite council approval, the proposal has been called in by the government because of its proximity to chemical facilities and potential ground contamination.  “It is what it is,” Lewis said. “We have to go through the process.” He claims the concerns were “a nonsense” but “you’ve just got to take it on the chin.”  Reform UK leader Nigel Farage joins candidate Sarah Pochin as they visit local businesses during a campaign visit to Runcorn and Helsby. | Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images Labour promised to build 1.5 million homes during this parliament. The delays make that target harder. “There will always be people who are against it, and they tend to shout louder,” Lewis said. The inquiry into the plans was meant to start in February, but was pushed back to September. Regardless of his high profile, Lewis said he felt frustrated with democracy’s sluggishness: “If you look at the way we operate our politics and then compare it to the advancements of the way we live, it’s polls apart.”  Both Shore and Pochin said more homes were needed — but building is easier said than done as objections and regulations throw a spanner into their plans. “We’re seen as the poorer cousins,” said Steven Chester, owner of the park’s Premier Aquatics shop, on London’s view of the northwest. “New people coming in are going to deal with the same problems.” 

BRUSSELS — Europe’s favorite bottle of red or white may come with an unwanted ingredient: toxic chemicals that don’t break down naturally. A new investigation has found widespread contamination in European wines with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) — a persistent byproduct of PFAS, the group of industrial chemicals widely known as “forever chemicals.” None of the wines produced in the past few years across 10 EU countries came back clean. In some bottles, levels were found to be 100 times higher than what is typically measured in drinking water. The study, published on Wednesday by the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe, adds fresh urgency to calls for a rapid phase-out of pesticides containing PFAS, a family of human-made chemicals designed to withstand heat, water and oil, and to resist breaking down in the environment. Wine production is among the heaviest users of pesticides in European agriculture, particularly fungicides, making vineyards a likely hotspot for chemical accumulation. Grapes are especially vulnerable to fungal diseases, requiring frequent spraying throughout the growing season, including with some products that contain PFAS compounds. Researchers found that while TFA was undetectable in wines harvested before 1988, contamination levels have steadily increased since then — reaching up to 320 micrograms per liter in bottles from the last three vintages, a level more than 3,000 times the EU’s legal limit for pesticide residues in groundwater. The study’s authors link this rise to the growing use of PFAS-based pesticides and newer fluorinated refrigerants over the past decade. “This is a red flag that should not be ignored,” said Helmut Burtscher-Schaden of Austrian NGO Global 2000, who led the research. “The massive accumulation of TFA in plants means we are likely ingesting far more of this forever chemical through our food than previously assumed.” The report, titled Message from the Bottle, analyzed 49 wines, including both conventional and organic products. While organic wines tended to have lower TFA concentrations, none were free of contamination. Wines from Austria showed particularly high levels, though researchers emphasized that the problem spans the continent. “This is not a local issue, it’s a global one,” warned Michael Müller, professor of pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry at the University of Freiburg, who conducted an independent study that confirmed similar results. “There are no more uncontaminated wines left. Even organic farming cannot fully shield against this pollution because TFA is now ubiquitous in the environment.” The findings highlight the growing scrutiny on PFAS — a broad class of fluorinated compounds used in products from non-stick cookware to firefighting foams and agricultural pesticides. These substances are prized for their durability but have been shown to accumulate in the environment and in living organisms, with links to cancer, liver damage and reproductive harm. While the risks of long-chain PFAS have long been recognized, TFA had until recently been considered relatively benign by both regulators and manufacturers. That view is now being challenged. A 2021 industry-funded study under the EU’s REACH chemicals regulation linked TFA exposure to severe malformations in rabbit fetuses, prompting regulators to propose classifying TFA as “toxic to reproduction.” “This makes it all the more urgent to act,” said Salomé Roynel, policy officer at PAN Europe. She pointed out that under current EU pesticide rules, metabolites that pose risks to reproductive health should not be detectable in groundwater above 0.1 micrograms per liter — a limit TFA regularly exceeds in both water and, now, food. The timing of the report adds political pressure just weeks before EU member states are due to vote on whether to ban flutolanil, a PFAS pesticide identified as a significant TFA emitter. Campaigners argue that the EU must go further, pushing for a group-wide ban on all PFAS pesticides. Wine production is among the heaviest users of pesticides in European agriculture, particularly fungicides, making vineyards a likely hotspot for chemical accumulation. | Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images “The vote on flutolanil is a first test of whether policymakers take this threat seriously,” Roynel said. “But ultimately, we need to eliminate the entire category of these chemicals from agriculture.” Industry groups are likely to push back, arguing that PFAS-based pesticides remain crucial for crop protection. But Müller counters that claim, saying alternatives are available: “There are substitutes. The idea that these chemicals are essential is simply not true.” With the EU’s broader PFAS restrictions currently under discussion, the wine study injects fresh urgency into debates over how to tackle chemical pollution and protect Europe’s food supply. “The more we delay, the worse the contamination becomes,” said Burtscher-Schaden. “And because we’re dealing with a forever chemical, every year of inaction locks in the damage for generations to come.” The European Commission declined to comment on the report. This story has been updated with a no comment from the European Commission.

PARIS — The French Agriculture Ministry is facing heat for suggesting racially motivated casting choices in an organic foods advertisement. Emails seen by POLITICO show that Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard’s office asked that the production company in charge of the ad “cast a Caucasian” first scene of the ad. While the emails do not define the actor’s ethnicity, a slideshow from the production company includes a photograph of an adolescent who is not white. The ministry also requested that couscous — a dish that traces its origins to North Africa but is extremely popular in France — be replaced in another scene with cassoulet, a staple of southwestern French cuisine. The production notes, first reported by Libération, will likely stoke the long-running debate on what it means to be French. Modern France is supposed to be colorblind republic where citizenship transcends race, gender and religion, but the reality is much more complex — and makes the request from Genevard’s office regarding the race of actors all the more controversial. Genevard’s office did not deny the content of its recommendations and told POLITICO that their public relations campaign “aims to speak to everyone.” The requests prompted some pushback, with one industry representative involved in the promotional operation saying they were “perplexed and even uncomfortable” in the email exchange. While the couscous-to-cassoulet change requested by the ministry was implemented, the casting suggestion could not be followed. Other, less contentious recommendations included changing the title of one clip, swapping olive oil for sunflower oil in another, and replacing orange and avocado smoothies with something zucchini-based. The ad is scheduled to air on May 22.

BRUSSELS ― Conservative leader Friedrich Merz won the German election Sunday and is on track to take the reins of the EU’s largest economy. It’s not yet clear exactly what the new German government will look like — or how far Merz will be able to reshape German politics as he sees fit. It’s likely to be weeks before coalition talks between Merz’s Christian Democratic alliance (CDU/CSU) and other parties reach an agreement and Merz becomes chancellor. Still, one thing looks certain: Merz will take Germany in a different direction from that of current Chancellor Olaf Scholz. It may not even look like the Germany that Angela Merkel, also of the CDU, led for 16 years, until 2021. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early projection 2021 2025 25.7% SPD 24.1% CDU/CSU 14.7% Greens 11.4% FDP 10.4% AfD 8.7% Others 4.9% Left Social Democratic Party of Germany Christian Democratic Union of Germany Alliance 90/The Greens Free Democratic Party Alternative for Germany Others The Left Turnout: 76.35% 28.6% CDU/CSU 20.4% AfD 16.3% SPD 12.3% Greens 8.5% Left 4.9% BSW 4.7% FDP 4.3% Others Christian Democratic Union of Germany/Christian Social Union Alternative for Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany Alliance 90/The Greens The Left Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht Free Democratic Party Others Source: ARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last month, Merz (unsuccessfully) pushed the German parliament for new migration measures with the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany party. It marked a clear departure from Merkel’s “Wir schaffen das” pledge to take in refugees. And there’s more. From a potential U-turn in Germany’s long-standing policy on nuclear energy and a more hawkish line on China, to plans to reboot the German-French axis to bolster EU trade, Merz could shake up the political landscape of Germany and, in one fell swoop, that of the European Union as a whole. Here’s what a Merz-led Germany means for the EU. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defense Energy Climate Sustainability Mobility Trade Agriculture Central Banking Financial Services Competition Tech Cyber Health -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement DEFENSE Two days before the election, Merz issued a stark warning that Europe must be prepared to defend itself without the U.S. “We must prepare for the possibility that Donald Trump will no longer uphold NATO’s mutual defense commitment unconditionally,” Merz said in an interview with a German broadcaster, signaling that Germany may seek nuclear protection from European allies. “We need to have discussions with both the British and the French — the two European nuclear powers — about whether nuclear sharing, or at least nuclear security from the U.K. and France, could also apply to us,” he said. Elsewhere, Merz has promised big and broad policies to scale up Germany’s defense industry, and will be expected to follow through quickly on an earlier pledge to scrap his predecessor’s block on the dispatch of long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine for strikes on Russian targets. A major theme of his early weeks in the chancellery will be setting out how Berlin plans to raise the cash to expand on the €100 billion fund agreed under the Scholz government to finance an upgrade of the Bundeswehr’s gear and digs. That cash pot has been allocated and will be spent up by 2027 on massive procurement programs, raising questions over how Berlin plans to meet its obligations to NATO — which Merz has promised to do in the future — from the conventional national budget. “The 2 percent target may be pushed up again and then we will have to prepare ourselves for that,” Merz told POLITICO’s Berlin Playbook podcast of plans to further raise the NATO target given Trump has called for a 5 percent target. Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENERGY Over the past few years, German energy policy has focused on turbocharging investment in renewable energy, shutting down nuclear reactors and scrambling to secure gas supplies from abroad to replace Russian imports.  Merz’s CDU has similarly vowed to “consistently use renewable energies, all of them.” But his political family, the center-right European People’s Party, is also pushing back against EU green energy targets. Meanwhile, Merz has taken a warmer tone toward nuclear energy than Scholz, which is challenging a long-standing German taboo around atomic power. While the country is unlikely to revive its shuttered reactors, a more lenient nuclear stance from Berlin could help pro-atomic countries persuade Brussels to treat atomic power more like renewables.  Merz has also said he wants to repeal Germany’s hard-fought Building Energy Law, which aims to accelerate a clean heating rollout — offering a potential signal to green skeptics in Europe.  Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement CLIMATE A Merz-led government will place less emphasis on climate change than Scholz’s coalition. Merz expressed concern on the campaign trail about the impact of climate policy on business, vowed to put economic growth above all other concerns and led a call to roll back several EU green regulations. But green advocates express confidence that in government Merz’s rhetorical hammer will turn feather duster. Industry, broadly, wants less bureaucracy, but it also wants consistent policy. Industrial stimulus can be used to help companies become greener and more efficient. “That they will not do it in the name of climate policy. Fine. If it’s economic policy for them. Fine,” said Linda Kalcher, executive director of the Strategic Perspectives think tank. Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUSTAINABILITY Merz, like Scholz, wants to delay key corporate sustainability reporting rules to boost Germany’s ailing industry. That means it’s pretty much assured that Germany under Merz would back a strong omnibus simplification bill for green rules, a proposal the European Commission is expected to release on Feb. 26. A Merz victory also means the center-right European People’s Party, which dominates the European Parliament and is Merz’s political family, once again has a powerful ally in the EU’s biggest economy. Already, the EPP has pushed hard to water down the EU anti-deforestation rule with the support of groups further to the right (mostly without success thus far). Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOBILITY Merz is inheriting an economy in recession that is being further dragged down by a crisis engulfing its automotive sector. He recognizes the problems: high energy and labor costs, and stiff competition in the electric vehicle transition. But he’s been light on the details of how he intends to help automakers. In campaign speeches, he promised to cut red tape and reduce high costs but stopped short of putting support behind reforming Germany’s debt brake, which will keep Merz’s hands tied when it comes to funding such initiatives. Germany’s carmakers are highly dependent on the Chinese market, which led Scholz to acquiesce to Beijing’s wishes, such as lobbying against the made-in-China EV duties. Merz will take a harder line with China and has made clear to automakers that they should not come crawling to him if their Asian investments blow up. Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADE Taking a stronger line on Russia and China and rekindling old friendships with fellow EU leaders: Merz has his work cut out for him if he wants to link the German export economy to global growth hot spots like the Mercosur countries, Mexico or Southeast Asia. Merz recognizes that a functional Franco-German axis can create more trade deals, more certainty for companies and — eventually — a stronger Europe. “We have to overcome our dispute on Mercosur,” Merz told the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, saying he was in regular close contact with French President Emmanuel Macron. The Christian Democrat has also signaled a harder approach to China. Or, at least, he’s admitted the German economy is too dependent on Beijing’s woes and wishes. But just how hawkish Merz’s approach to trade will end up being is likely to be determined by who he ends up with as a coalition partner. Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement AGRICULTURE A victory for Merz’s CDU means Berlin will align on agricultural policy with both the largest political bloc in the European Parliament — the European People’s Party led by Bavarian Manfred Weber — and EU Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen. Ahead of negotiations over the future of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, Hansen has launched an overhaul of farm policy that would effectively roll back the green agenda of the last term and instead emphasize making farming a more attractive and economically viable occupation. In its campaign platform, Merz’s CDU said it wants a CAP “that serves farmers.” Scholz’s center-left government pushed initiatives to support organic farming and reduce food waste. But it clashed with farmers a year ago over its decision to scrap tax breaks on agricultural diesel. The CDU said it will reinstate the diesel tax break and take broader action to strengthen planning security for farmers. “With the CDU, no farmer will have to protest with his tractor in front of the Brandenburg Gate anymore,” the party said. Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CENTRAL BANKING Merz’s chancellorship will mark the return of conservative opposition to meddling with Germany’s notorious debt brake, which limits government deficit spending to 0.35 percent a year and is seen by many as the cause of the shoddy state of the country’s infrastructure.  Scholz’s efforts to tamper with the brake caused the collapse of his government, and Merz’s CDU faction is fiercely opposed to any reform — up to a point. Surprisingly enough, Merz himself, during a TV debate earlier this month, intimated openness to some fine-tuning, but not before other solutions are tried. Timid, yes, but revolutionary from a Christian Democrat.  Otherwise, financial markets are broadly skeptical that Merz can do much to stall Germany’s well-documented economic decline, with gross domestic product expected to contract 0.5 percent in 2025. During the race, the choice between the two parties’ economic policies was ultimately “superficial,” ING Global Head of Macro Carsten Brzeski lamented in a note earlier this month, noting that Merz’s plans for tax and spending cuts reflected an almost spiritual faith in free markets — the very same markets that have dealt such a humiliating blow to Germany’s economic prestige.  Merz will also have critical sway over the outcome of a major transnational banking battle that could put EU ideals to the test. When Milanese lender UniCredit made its surprise bid on Germany’s Commerzbank last year, it looked like exactly the kind of cross-border banking consolidation that Mario Draghi was advocating in his landmark report — until Scholz’s government reacted with horror and dreamed up wild schemes to block it. UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel has since said he will wait on Merz’s position before making another move, but it’s hard to imagine the new leader will be any more keen to give away one of the country’s most prized lenders.  Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FINANCIAL SERVICES Merz holds the keys to significantly boosting Europe’s defense capabilities in the years to come. As Trump pressures Europe to pony up military spending, many in Brussels are anxiously waiting for Germany to give its blessing for the European Commission to borrow money on behalf of member countries. Highly indebted countries such as France, Italy and Spain who fall short of NATO’s defense spending target argue that receiving “free money” from Brussels is the only way for them to drastically increase military spending without making politically unpopular cuts to other budget areas.  Merz warmed to this idea during the election campaign — and supporters hope that his backing will defeat opposition from frugal allies such as Austria and the Netherlands. There are many less controversial ideas on the table, such as exempting defense from EU spending rules or increasing military funds in the EU’s new multiyear budget that will come into force in 2028. But supporters of common debt argue that none of these will be enough to meet the scale of the challenge alone.  Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMPETITION Germany’s industrial giants are flailing and shedding jobs. Merz will be expected to act. His party’s manifesto called for “Made in Germany” champions and for a modern antitrust and competition law “that uses a global market as a benchmark,”  references to the Siemens-Alstom deal to create a European rail champion that was blocked by the EU. Merz is also a fan of cross-border state-funded projects, known as Important Projects of Common European Interest, saying he wants to use such instruments “as effectively as possible in Germany.” The country has been one of the driving forces of several IPCEIs, which have led to the public financing of hydrogen, batteries and cloud infrastructure. He also wants Germany’s national rail company Deutsche Bahn to be streamlined and restructured, with infrastructure and transport separated “to increase competition.” Given the dire state of German rail, this could prove to be a popular move. Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement TECH Merz sees digital transformation as the key to Germany’s industrial revival and wants to turn the country into Europe’s tech front-runner. His plan is to earmark 3.5 percent of gross domestic product to research and development by 2030, with a special focus on space, quantum computing, artificial intelligence and cloud technologies. Key proposals include setting up a standalone digital ministry (currently merged with transport) and offering new startups temporary relief from red tape. Merz has also said that bureaucracy in Berlin and Brussels needs to be drastically reduced for Germany to regain its competitive edge. This stance is in line with the center-right views in EU institutions, where a major push to simplify digital rules is underway.  Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CYBER In the months leading up to the German election, Berlin’s lawmakers looked to toughen up restrictions on (and potentially ban) high-risk vendors — cough, Chinese suppliers like Huawei — to implement the EU’s rules on cybersecurity in critical sectors. With work on the draft law rolling over, Merz will be faced with a decision on whether to crack down on Chinese tech in Germany’s critical sectors. His CDU party said that it wants to maintain close economic relations with China, but also committed to taking steps to protect critical infrastructure and security relevant technology.   The party manifesto also outlined a sweeping change of course in terms of data protection policy, encouraging more “pragmatic” rules that allow data to be used for innovation and growth, as well as law enforcement.  Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEALTH A Merz win signals a blow for Germany’s cannabis users, after the CDU leader pledged to reverse last year’s partial decriminalization of the drug. He blames the new policies, which allow adults to possess up to 25 grams of cannabis in public and grow three plants per household, for an increase in drug-related crime.  It could be good news for fans of the EU’s new rules to digitalize European health records, the European Health Data Space. In an attempt to force notoriously analog Germans away from paper files, Merz has suggested that anyone who stores their data in an electronic patient file could receive a discount on health insurance contributions.  Select another policy area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Victor Jack, Karl Mathiesen, James Fernyhough, Joshua Posaner, Jordyn Dahl, Koen Verhelst, Douglas Busvine, Ben Munster, Gregorio Sorgi, Aude van den Hove, Mathieu Pollet, Eliza Gkritsi, Ellen O’Regan, Mari Eccles and Hanne Cokelaere contributed to this article.

BRUSSELS — The European Commission published its long-term “vision” for the European Union’s agriculture and food policy on Wednesday, setting out ambitions for a sector that has been at the center of political protests, trade tensions and regulatory headaches. Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen’s paper lays out a roadmap through 2040, promising better conditions for farmers, fairer supply chains, and a rethinking of sustainability policies. “Food and farming are vital for Europe’s people, economy and society. We need the agri-food sector to flourish and compete in a fair global marketplace, with enough resilience to cope with crises and shocks,” Hansen said as he unveiled the plan.  “The roadmap we are presenting today sets out the path for tackling the many pressures that EU farmers face.” But while the EU executive wants to ease some regulatory burdens, it’s also laying the ground for bigger fights over trade rules, food pricing and supply chain fairness. Here are the five key takeaways from the EU’s master plan for agriculture: 1. MAKE FARMING ATTRACTIVE AGAIN (OR AT LEAST SURVIVABLE) European farmers are getting old: Just 12 percent are under 40, and many are struggling with low incomes, bureaucracy and volatile markets. Hansen’s vision acknowledges that, unless something changes, Europe won’t have enough farmers left by 2040 — or the ones who remain will just be fewer and bigger. His plan? Better pay, fewer administrative burdens and new income streams like carbon farming and bioeconomy projects to keep young people in the business. The Commission is also set to deliver a generational renewal strategy this year, focusing on easier access to land and financing for young farmers. A revamp of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2027 will be key to delivering on these promises. But there’s already an emerging fight over whether the CAP should remain a standalone fund in the EU budget or get folded into a larger money pot. The Commission is signaling a shift toward more targeted CAP support, prioritizing active farmers, young entrants and those producing essential food. There’s also talk of simplifying direct payments and adjusting subsidy distribution. The big question: Will this actually attract new farmers — or just stop existing ones from quitting? 2. THE FIGHT OVER FOOD CHAIN PROFITS ISN’T OVER Hansen’s vision takes aim at power imbalances in the food supply chain, signaling that the Commission isn’t done cracking down on unfair trading practices. Farmers have long argued that retailers and food manufacturers squeeze them on prices, forcing them to sell below production costs — a practice the Commission wants to curb further by revising the UTP directive. However, while farmer groups see this as essential, the Commission’s free-market hawks remain uneasy about an outright ban on below-cost sales that could distort competition. So, the vision emphasizes rules against “systematically” compelling below-cost sales, rather than writing a strict, blanket ban into law. The plan also includes a greater role for the new Agri-Food Chain Observatory to track who makes what margin in the food supply chain — a move that could add transparency, but also more friction, between farmers and bigger actors. And it’s not just farmers feeling squeezed. The Commission is also acknowledging concerns about rural workers, women in agriculture, and foreign laborers, saying the industry needs to be more attractive and fair. A Women in Farming platform will be launched, though it’s unclear how much impact it will have. There is also a call to improve conditions for low-wage workers in agriculture and food processing, but no new enforcement tools to back it up. Expect pushback from other players, like retailers and food manufacturers, who argue that higher farm-gate prices will drive up costs for consumers, but also concerns that the EU isn’t doing enough to protect farm and food-sector workers from low pay and poor conditions. 3. SUSTAINABLE CARROTS, NOT UNSUSTAINABLE STICKS The Commission wants farming to decarbonize and pollute less, but farmers should be seen as part of the solution, not the problem, the vision argues. That means fewer penalties and more incentives, while food companies and retailers should bear as much of the climate and environmental burden — though how they’ll be held accountable remains unclear. The slew of environmental derogation requests from farmers shows that “one-size-fits-all approaches” don’t work, the Commission says. That’s why the midyear CAP simplification will give EU countries more flexibility, shifting the CAP “away from conditions to incentives,” including for “streamlined” ecosystem services. The plan includes stronger support for carbon farming, bioenergy production, organic and agroecological practices, and the bioeconomy and circularity. Brussels also wants biopesticides and new genomic techniques to reach the market faster — with a proposal on biopesticides promised this year — while biotechnologies need scaling up. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) should get a larger budget to speed up safety assessments and clear regulatory bottlenecks. That said, not all innovations are welcome. The paper warns that “certain food innovation is sometimes seen as a threat” — a not-so-subtle nod to cultivated meat. It “calls for an enhanced dialogue,” which effectively means a freeze. Meanwhile, livestock “is and will remain an essential part of” the EU’s food system, with its own dedicated “work stream” to boost competitiveness. Feed additives “will be essential” to making the sector more sustainable. 4. MORE HOMEGROWN FOOD AND FEED, AND A CRACKDOWN ON IMPORTS The final text slightly tones down some of the trade protectionist language from an earlier draft, but the Commission is still sounding the alarm over Europe’s dependency on imported agricultural inputs, from fertilizers to animal feed. Right now, the EU heavily relies on key fertilizer imports from Russia, Belarus and North Africa, while soy for animal feed comes mostly from South and North America. To fix this, Hansen’s vision includes a new protein strategy to boost EU-grown plant proteins, increased production of low-carbon and recycled fertilizers, and more investment in domestic agritech innovation. The Commission is also exploring the idea of food stockpiles — a move that signals greater concern for supply chain resilience. One of the most politically sensitive parts of the vision? A trade reciprocity plan is expected in 2025, outlining how the EU will enforce equal standards for imports on pesticides, animal welfare and sustainability. To back this up with enforcement, the Commission wants to set up a dedicated import control task force, working with member countries to strengthen border checks and prevent banned substances from entering the EU market. The challenge? Replacing imports without driving up costs — or setting off trade conflicts with key partners. But in a key change from the earlier leaked draft, there’s now no explicit ban on EU companies exporting toxic pesticides that are prohibited at home. Instead, the Commission will begin with an impact assessment, leaving open what future restrictions might look like. 5. CRUMBS FOR THE CONSUMER Neither food, nor consumers get much in the way of new rules. The Commission will propose strengthening the role of public procurement, though a desire stated in last week’s version to ditch the “cheaper is better” mentality has been deleted, emphasizing merely that procurers should seek the “best value.” The document calls for shorter supply chains. Eating healthy also means eating local, it argues, since unfortunately “food is more processed, eating habits are changing and supply chains have gotten longer.” For that reason, there will be a Food Dialogue with stakeholders every year to discuss product reformulation, food affordability and collecting data on dietary intake. The Berlaymont will launch a study on the health impact of ultra-processed foods and it intends to extend country-of-origin labeling. Another change from last week is a paragraph on how consumers should receive “trustworthy information” and that the EU will crack down on “misleading environmental claims and unreliable sustainability labels.” Consumers should also be “supporting farmers in the transition” toward more environmental production, since “markets fail to reward the progress already made.”  There is no mention of front-of-pack labeling (like the forgotten Nutri-Score), nutrient profiles for marketing sugary, salty and fatty products, or plant-based diets. CAN THIS VISION SURVIVE THE POLITICS? Brussels’ new vision is full of big promises — simpler rules for farmers, a more balanced food supply chain, a crackdown on unfair trade and a pivot to carrots over sticks on green rules. But in scrapping an explicit export ban on toxic pesticides and watering down rules on public procurement, the Commission shows it’s wary of imposing new hurdles that could spark backlash. That leaves a big question mark over whether this plan can actually change Europe’s farming model — and if it will do enough to ease the concerns of farmers, consumer groups and environmental campaigners.  With the upcoming CAP reform, looming budget fights and intense trade negotiations ahead, it won’t be an easy harvest for Hansen. This story has been updated.