- 4 weeks ago
Europe Today: Ukraine close to peace and EU-Mercosur to seal the deal?
Tune in to Euronews' new flagship morning programme, Europe Today, at 8 am Brussels time. In just 15 minutes, we bring you up to speed on the biggest news of the day.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/12/16/europe-today-ukraine-close-to-peace-and-eu-mercosur-to-seal-the-deal
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
Tune in to Euronews' new flagship morning programme, Europe Today, at 8 am Brussels time. In just 15 minutes, we bring you up to speed on the biggest news of the day.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/12/16/europe-today-ukraine-close-to-peace-and-eu-mercosur-to-seal-the-deal
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning, it is Tuesday the 16th of December. I'm Maeve McMahon and this is Europe Today,
00:21your news's daily live fix of European news and analysis. Coming up today, a real chance
00:28for peace. European leaders at Key Talks in Berlin have declared they made significant progress on
00:34ending the war in Ukraine, but insisted that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.
00:41In a huddle between American envoys and EU leaders, including the European Commission
00:45President Ursula von der Leyen, Europeans said they stand ready to lead peacekeeping force in
00:51Ukraine. To get up to speed, let's turn straight to our Ukraine correspondent, Sasha Vakilina,
00:55who joins me here in the studio. Good morning, Sasha Vakilina. Good to have you with us.
00:59How significant is this announcement? What is your reading of the Berlin Talks?
01:03It is the first time when we hear from the European leaders on paper the real commitments
01:07from the European countries, not only to Ukraine, but also to the United States, following Donald
01:11Trump's calls for the Europeans to take more of responsibility when it comes to ending Russia's
01:16war against Ukraine. The host of the meeting, German Chancellor, said that this is the first
01:21time since the war began. A ceasefire now seems possible. We want to move along the path to peace
01:26together with the Ukrainians, our European partners and the United States. This is a real change of
01:33tone there, Maven. This is indeed probably the first time when we hear this commitment and this optimism
01:38as well from the European leaders about what's coming next. Now, let's take a closer look at some of
01:44those commitments. This is the multinational force inside Ukraine. Important to clarify here,
01:49this is about the willing countries from Europe, but also the force inside Ukraine far from the
01:55front lines. Mechanism to monitor and verify ceasefire, legally binding assistance for future
02:01attacks, something that Kiev insisted upon to make sure that Russia cannot attack again, and EU accession.
02:07Of course, what Kiev have been trying to do for a long while now and trying to overcome some of
02:12those vetoes that are blocking its European aspirations at this stage.
02:16Indeed. But what would Ukraine need to do to concede in return?
02:19There are quite a few points that are still remaining there, and Vlody Mazelensky spoke about
02:24some of them, saying that Ukraine managed to amend the plan in some sense and the rest will
02:30stay for further negotiations. Let's take a listen.
02:32Some things are, in my view, destructive and will certainly not help us. It is important that I don't
02:45see them today in the new edits of the documents. To me, this is important because dignity is important.
02:56The topic of concessions is not relevant anymore.
03:00He also said that he has the feeling that the US side and the US delegation heard Ukraine and heard
03:07Ukraine's position, of course, and the sticking point of the territorial concessions. This is very
03:12important. Zelensky said that Ukraine will not accept any sort of Russian control over Donbass,
03:17but it is believed that this point will remain for the very end of any negotiations. And this is
03:21something that will be discussed directly between Russia and Ukraine, Maeve.
03:25Okay, we'll stay tuned for the, of course, reactions from the Kremlin. But, Sasha, Vakilina,
03:30thank you so much for that update. And now to dive more into the politics and diplomacy behind the
03:36Berlin gathering, we can actually cross over now to the German capital, where our correspondent,
03:40Laura Fleischmann, is standing by for us. Good morning, Laura. Great to have you with us.
03:44Just tell us, how did the German Chancellor, Merz, actually manage to get the Americans to Berlin?
03:51Friedrich Merz, actually has a great connection with the US administration. He is seen as a
03:56transatlantic politician. And one of the first things he did when he came into office as Chancellor
04:02of Germany was actually to visit Donald Trump in Washington, DC. They had a great talk in the
04:06White House in front of the press and formed a great connection. Trump afterwards even called Merz's
04:11friend. So they do keep close contact. And it was no surprise that the Americans actually came
04:16when Merz asked them to. And it's Friedrich Merz now seen as one of the strongest politicians in
04:21the EU, perhaps for this? If he is not seen as one of the strongest politicians yet, he could be seen
04:29as one of the strongest with the summit if there is perhaps a Christmas armistice coming out of it
04:34as a result. But the fact that the summit was held in Berlin already shows how influential Friedrich
04:39Merz actually is. It was discussed to have the summit in Paris, as a German newspaper reports,
04:44but the location was changed to Berlin, perhaps because of Merz's great connection with the US
04:49administration. And Merz is seen as an Aussenkanzler in Germany, which translates to foreign
04:53chancellor because of his great focus on foreign diplomacy and international politics.
04:58Okay, Laura Fleischmann, our Berlin correspondent, thank you so much for that update. But now,
05:03coming up, we'll be speaking to Thomas Weitz, the Austrian ecological farmer and member of the
05:08European Parliament for the European Green Party. Thomas Weitz is in Strasbourg this
05:13week, where members of the European Parliament are meeting on their agenda, a potential showdown
05:18on the EU's trade deal with the South American bloc, Mercosur. Ursula von der Leyen was planning
05:23to head to Brazil this weekend to sign off on that trade deal that is three decades in the
05:28making. European industries see it as a Christmas gift they've all been dreaming of, but farmers
05:32are not convinced. For more on this, we can cross straight over to the European Parliament
05:36in Strasbourg and bring in Euronews' EU editor, Maria Tadeo. Good morning, Maria. What is the
05:42latest on this?
05:44Well, good morning, Maven. So close yet, so far, it's a massive trade deal that could be signed
05:50with Latin American countries, including, of course, Brazil and Argentina. The head of the
05:55European Commission, as you said, was supposed to get on a flight on December 20th. But that is now,
06:00excuse the pun, up in the air because the French are calling for a delay to this vote.
06:05Germany and Spain are pushing to get it done. They see big business opportunity,
06:10but it now hangs really in the hands and in the balance of the Italian Prime Minister,
06:15Giorgia Meloni. She could decide whether there's a qualified majority to get it through the finish
06:20line or a blocking minority enough to grind this to a halt. Now, to debrief, we are joined indeed by
06:27Thomas Weitz, who is a member of the European Parliament for the Greens. Of course, you oppose
06:34this deal. Why? Because some would argue at this point, it justifies a logic.
06:40Well, it might be a good deal for industry, but we are sacrificing small and medium scale
06:44farmers. We're putting them into an unfair competition while cutting the funds for farming
06:48in the European Union at the same time. We have a situation where, you know, pesticides are used
06:53in South America that are banned in the European Union. They have no control over the origin of beef.
06:59They have no control over the use of antibiotics as growth promoters. So that's double standards.
07:04OK, you say it's double standards. But when the commission say we have done everything to include
07:08the safeguards, and by the way, you're going to vote that here, when they say you will get compensated,
07:13if there is unfair competition, are they lying or what?
07:16The safeguards, this is kind of a tranquilizer, you know, a sedative, especially for the French farmers.
07:22Basically, this is already in the trade agreement, and it's just the implementation legislation.
07:26There's nothing new about that. These safeguard mechanisms will only start working after the
07:31damage has been done to the market. And as a farmer, you only go bankrupt once, because if
07:35you're bankrupt, then your land is owned by the bank, and it's over.
07:38OK, but let's talk about the farmers, because some would argue the opposition to Mercosur has nothing
07:43to do with the terms now. It really is about, and I say this with all due respect, the farming lobby
07:48and the subsidies around it. And ultimately, it comes down to money. How do you respond to that?
07:53Well, it's the big farming industry that will profit.
07:56And it's the massive amount of small and medium farmers that will pay the price.
08:00So if this is the farming lobby that you're talking about here, I'm also part of the lobby
08:04that lobbies for small scale farmers, because if we lose them, we lose rural areas, we lose
08:09infrastructure in rural areas. We also lose the ability to supply our population independently
08:14with food. And this is, I think, a high value that we should protect.
08:18What about those who say there's geopolitical value? This is a new alliance with Latin American
08:22countries. What you're doing is short-sighted, and it's also dangerous at this moment in time.
08:26Well, there is absolutely geopolitical value in this, but then support the European farmers.
08:31You cannot cut the funds for the farmers by 20 percent, literally, and by 40 percent if you include
08:37inflation. Then support the farmers, right? And don't sacrifice them just for the profit of a few
08:42multinational companies or European industry.
08:45Okay, so how is this going to end then? Because the clock is really ticking. Some say if this
08:49flops on December 20th, that's it. Mercosur is dead and left for good now. So how will this end?
08:54And what can we put on the table in four days to get it through the finish line?
08:58Well, the commission can still promise that they adjust the so-called multi-annual financial
09:02framework, so the budget for the next seven years, and support farmers in, you know, being able to
09:07survive this.
09:08They cannot do this in four days, and you know this very well. The deadline is December 20th.
09:12They cannot change the budget in four days.
09:13The commission can. If there's a political will, they can come out with the communication
09:17and give promises at least. It's not a final decision, but they can see that they take the
09:22worries of farmers serious, and they also do this to make this deal happen.
09:27Of course, a lot of this now depends, too, on the Italian Prime Minister, George Amelani.
09:31The French are now calling for a delay to this vote. She could decide which way it goes.
09:36So which way is it going to go?
09:38I think she's going to carve in, as she did in many occasions, unfortunately.
09:42That's what I expect from George Amelani.
09:43Because she's weak?
09:44She's weak?
09:45Because she has a tradition in promising and not fulfilling her promises.
09:49Okay. Well, thank you very much for joining us, Sir.
09:52And, of course, Maeve, that was Thomas Weiss, who is a member of the European Parliament,
09:57and, of course, the Green Party. A vote is expected, too, on the safeguards, but the big
10:02vote, Maeve, will be the member states. And we just talked about it really comes down to
10:07Rome, and George Amelani. She has the power either to delay it and possibly kill it or
10:12make it fly.
10:13It does indeed. Maria Tadeo, thank you so much for that live update from quite a quiet
10:17Strasbourg this morning. And thanks, of course, to the Austrian MEP, Thomas Veiths, as well.
10:21And while MEPs are voting today in Strasbourg, over 5,000 farmers from all across Europe and
10:271,000 tractors are en route to Brussels for a major protest this Thursday, the same day,
10:32of course, as the EU summit. Our Jakub Janus has been taking a look at the farmers' winter
10:37of discontent.
10:44It sounds like a bad joke. Lumpy skin disease. But in France, nobody's laughing. Farmers are
10:52clashing with police as their herds get slaughtered to stop a viral outbreak. And strangely enough,
10:59this virus might be what kills one of the biggest trade deals in EU history. Here is
11:04the connection.
11:07French farming unions are fighting the systematic cooling of entire herds when just a single
11:12case is detected.
11:15Meanwhile, Brussels is pushing the Mercosur deal, a trade pact that would open the door to
11:20South American beef.
11:23Farmers call it a double standard.
11:25Why should we sacrifice our herds to meet high standards, they ask, when we are going
11:31to import cheap meat from Brazil, produced with pesticides and antibiotics banned in Europe?
11:38And that anger lands in the European Parliament tomorrow.
11:42Our European lawmakers will vote on a reciprocity clause. It's basically a Miro rule. If you want
11:52to sell to Europe, you must meet European standards. If MEPs vote against it, they risk a revolt in
12:02rural Europe. And if they vote for it, South America might walk away as it doesn't want to
12:09import European laws. In the EU, our politics is often local. And right now, locals are angry.
12:24Yeah, I could be honest there. But now moving on, are you a big online shopper? Then stay tuned
12:30for a levy coming your way from next summer. In an attempt to tackle the flood of cheap Chinese
12:36e-commerce packages, Brussels has agreed on a very concrete measure that will hit your pocket.
12:41Ida Sanchez reports.
12:423 euro earrings? Add to the shopping cart. A 5 euro organizer for all your hot socks? Add to the
12:51shopping cart. This toy for your 5-year-old child, which is way cheaper on a Chinese website? Add to the
12:57shopping cart. Buying cheap objects from sites such as chain or Temu is a daily routine for many
13:03Europeans. But the situation will change in July 2026. EU countries have agreed to impose a 3 euro
13:12temporary flat custom fee for small parcels entering the EU. Until now, these objects have been exempt
13:19from duties. But why? Are the countries against the citizens saving some money? Far from it. Those
13:25packages pose a competitive disadvantage for European companies exposed to more taxes. Many of them pose
13:32health and safety risks for consumers. They might use toxic chemicals or don't follow the regulations
13:39that make them safe for children. Risks that citizens might not even be aware. Many of the websites even sell
13:46products that are illegal in the EU, like counterfeit products. The number of small parcels entering the
13:53EU has raised sharply in past years. And it looks it's not going down anytime soon.
13:58Ida Sanchez reporting for us there. But that does bring this Tuesday's edition of Europe Today to an
14:10end. Thank you so much for tuning in. Join us again tomorrow. We'll have all the latest on the Western
14:15Balkans summit that's taking place right here in the EU capital. So look forward to seeing you then.
14:20Take care and see you soon.
14:33Take care and see you soon.
14:39Bye.
14:41Bye.
14:43Bye.
14:45Bye.
14:47Bye.
14:49Bye.
14:51Bye.
14:53Bye.
14:55Bye.
14:57Bye.
14:59Bye.
15:01Bye.
Be the first to comment