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Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · 13d

🇪🇸’s Luis Planas says the CAP proposal could give 🇪🇺 countries too much financial wiggle room and undercut fair competition

Full interview here👇🏼 @euractiv.com

euractiv.com/interview/comm…

EU ministers renew push to cull fish-eating cormorants | Euractiv

Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · 20d

Sweden 🇸🇪 is (again) calling for more cormorant hunts, saying the birds eat over 300K tonnes of Europe's fish each year 🐟

www.euractiv.com/news/eu-mini...

But environmental groups warn cormorants are being scapegoated for Europe’s declining fish stocks

The agreement targets hotspots for illegal fishing such as Argentina’s “mile 201”, near the Falklands

Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · 23d

“I don’t think the #WTO should be too euphoric about this” John Clarke told @euractiv.com

🎣After 2 decades in the making, the deal has come into force - but is this just the beginning?

Read on to learn about the fate of illegal fishing hotspots, such as Argentina’s "Mile 201" 🚢

Euractiv @euractiv.com · 23d

Real battle over harmful fishing subsidies looms after WTO deal

Swapping football for fishing, why some in Spain are heading out to sea | Euractiv

Reposted by Maria Simon Arboleas

Nikolaus J. Kurmayer @nkurmayer.bsky.social · 28d

Read this empathic conversation @maria-simon.bsky.social held with the young folks heading out to sea in Spain -- a rarity for a dying profession.

Unai Ruiz-Zeberio Almandoz chose the boat over 2nd division goalkeeping, while Alba Aguilera Olivencia (24) is 4th gen

www.euractiv.com/news/swappin...

Sailing out for tuna is an attractive prospect for some of the country's youth looking for a career

Government aims for 2027 pact on food standards with EU

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Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Aug 27

"Some will hysterically cry even treason. Some will say we’re surrendering sovereignty or freedoms, but that is nonsense" said 🇬🇧’s EU affairs minister Nick Thomas-Symonds

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Aug 27

UK hungry for autumn food talks in Brussels as prices bite

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Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 23

💶 VAT cuts on veggie alternatives
🔬 Push for Novel Foods (think lab-grown meat 🧫)
🌍 Call for “climate label”

🥫Read on for more EU battles (Nutriscore, “meaty” names, ultra-processed foods…)

Government advisors in Germany are pushing for a shift in food policy to promote plant-based options and discourage excessive meat consumption

Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 23

After his appointment, Rainer said that Germans were mature enough to decide what to put in their shopping baskets…. 🛒

… a few months later, govn’t advisors are handing him a report calling for a shift away from his cherished meat 🥩🍖🥓

What’s in it? 🗒️👇🏼

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jul 23

Germany’s ‘butcher’ minister told to push for greener diets

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Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 22

For the 🎣 industry, selling a chickpea preparation as “no-fish” or “salmon vegetarian alternative” is crossing a line

But there is more: “Solmon”, “Salmonderful”, “Toona”, “Tunalicious”... the list is as long as the market is creative 🛒

Witty branding or bending the rules?

For the industry, selling a chickpea preparation as “no-fish” is crossing a line.

Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 22

In 1929, Magritte painted “This is not as pipe” to argue that a label does not constitute the object 🎨

In 2025, Brussels is caught in a dilemma over representations and the defense of what is “real” 🌱🍣

🤔 Whether in art or at the supermarket, is a name ever just a name?

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jul 22

Fish joins meat in fray over veggie food

For the industry, selling a chickpea preparation as “no-fish” is crossing a line.

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Reposted by Maria Simon Arboleas

Alice Bergoënd @alice.bergoend.euractiv.com · Jul 22

The #EU fishing lobby is accusing vegetarian companies of giving their no-fish products a disguise that’s a little too convincing

via @maria-simon.bsky.social

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jul 22

Fish joins meat in fray over veggie food

Commission targets ‘veggie steak’ labelling, proposes protections for hemp farmers - Euractiv

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Reposted by Maria Simon Arboleas

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jul 16

📣 Stay in the loop on the next EU budget 💶

🎢 Our reporters are covering every twist and turn, LIVE, of what is set to be the most important budget in EU history.

🔖 Bookmark and keep this link open, as we report on von der Leyen's proposal, and initial reactions.

www.euractiv.com/section/econ...

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Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 15

For context 👇🏼 www.euractiv.com/section/agri...

“Specific legal provisions should be introduced to protect meat-related terms,” reads the draft, adding that such terms often carry “cultural and historical significance”.

Among processed meats, only “bacon” is included in the list of protected names.

Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 15

The COM proposal follows pressure from farm ministers and MEPs, but does not go as far as some were hoping… 🍽️

Among processed meats, only bacon 🥓 made it to the list seen by @euractiv.com 👀

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jul 15

Commission excludes ‘steak’, ‘sausage’ from crackdown on veggie meat labelling

“Specific legal provisions should be introduced to protect meat-related terms,” reads the draft, adding that such terms often carry “cultural and historical significance”.

Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 14

Get ready for bans on using meat 🥩 names for veggie food 🍽️ - and new rules on cannabis cultivation 🌿

Details of the draft proposal 👇🏼

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jul 14

Commission targets ‘veggie steak’ labelling, proposes protections for hemp farmers

Under current EU rules, funding is off-limits for increasing vessel capacity or acquiring vessels over 24 metres in length.

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Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 14

As with farm subsidies, the COM plans to integrate fisheries 🎣 into the new single fund.

Still, it is ready to meet one of the industry’s long-standing demands: lifting key restrictions on EU funding ⛴️ - we got the draft 👀

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jul 14

EXCLUSIVE: Commission to lift funding restrictions on vessel capacity

EXCLUSIVE: Brussels proposes ‘single fund’ CAP but preserves farmers' direct support - Euractiv

Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 14

🚨 Brussels will include the #CAP in a new single fund, keeping farmers’ income support ringfenced but scrapping the rural development pillar, according to a draft seen by @sofiamazzanaro.bsky.social and me ‼️

www.euractiv.com/section/agri...

EU plans CAP reform into a single fund, dropping rural development but keeping direct support for farmers.

The Netherlands wants EU help on manure limits – but Brussels isn’t budging.

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Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 11

👉🏼 According to documents obtained by @ftm.nl, the 🇪🇺EC is disappointed with the Netherlands and thinks it has been of enough help with its manure problems ‼️

🗣️ “There is no ambition anymore to address health & envi problems”

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Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 11

The 🇳🇱 farmers party sees little hope of swaying the EU to retain its manure exemption 💩 - and has little time before October’s snap election🗳️

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jul 11

The Netherlands’ last bet to clean up its manure mountain

Even as Rome looks restrict the use of hemp, a group of MEPs are pushing for a legal framework.

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Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 11

Amid Italy’s pushback on CBD 🇮🇹, farm MEPs in Brussels press for EU rules on hemp 🇪🇺

Their idea? 👇🏼

🌿 EU-wide THC limit of 0.5%
🪻 Endorsing the use of “the entire plant” - so also the flower, which some countries consider as a narcotic… ⚠️

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jul 10

High hopes: MEPs push to free hemp from national bans

Taking the helm on EU fisheries, Denmark faces a tide of trade tensions and green challenges.

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Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jul 8

DK 🇩🇰will take the lead in negotiations at the Council, all while facing disputes with EU neighbours (UK🇬🇧, Norway🇳🇴...) and navigating sustainability challenges at home.

👉To tax or not to tax, that is the question 🤔
👉 Never ending fight over bottom trawling 🐟

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jul 8

Crunch time for EU fisheries as Denmark set to steer agenda

Nine German Länder call for EU nature law to be scrapped, citing cost and red tape.

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Reposted by Maria Simon Arboleas

jeremiaslin.bsky.social @jeremiaslin.bsky.social · Jul 1

The EU Green Deal is under fire. As Brussels moves to roll back key green laws, conservative ministers from 9 German states (Länder) now want the Nature Restoration Law scrapped too. The Green Deal is increasingly turning into a red flag.

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jul 1

German states push to scrap EU nature restoration law

Christophe Hansen says Ukraine’s possible EU membership would put pressure on farm payment model.

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Maria Simon Arboleas @maria-simon.bsky.social · Jun 26

“In Ukraine, you have agri holdings that have 600K ha. This is 4 times the entire production of the member state where I come from!” (🇱🇺) said @christophehansen.bsky.social

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jun 26

EU farming chief calls for subsidy rethink amid Ukraine’s accession prospects

The EU and the UK went to arbitration over the ban – but the two sides have interpreted the outcome differently.

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Reposted by Maria Simon Arboleas

Owen Morgan @owenmorganeu.bsky.social · Jun 25

Sandeel row latest via @maria-simon.bsky.social

Euractiv @euractiv.com · Jun 25

UK defies Brussels and sticks to controversial sandeel fishing ban