Try the political quiz
 @VOTANewsAgriculturepoliticsClimate ChangeUkraine aid3mos ago

EU Unveils Record €2 Trillion Budget—But Faces Backlash Over Cuts, Climate, and Ukraine Aid

The European Commission has proposed its largest-ever long-term budget for 2028–2034, totaling nearly €2 trillion, aiming to boost competitiveness, defense, and strategic autonomy. The plan includes significant funding for Ukraine and a major overhaul of agricultural subsidies, shifting more money to newer eastern member states and capping payments to large farmers. However, the proposal has sparked widespread criticism from environmental groups, farmers, and several member states—especially Germany—over cuts to nature, climate, and farm funding. The budget also eliminates the LIFE program, the EU's only dedicated biodiversity fund, raising concerns about the bloc's green ambitions. With internal resistance mounting and key priorities in conflict, the EU faces a tough negotiation process to finalize the budget.

No replies yet…

Be the first to reply to this general discussion.

More conversations

Join in on more popular conversations.

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…11mos11MO

Trump’s Doom vs. Harris’s Hope as America Decides Its Fate

Donald J. Trump and Kamala Harris closed out their campaigns in the final hours before Election Day in starkly different moods: The former president, often appearing drained at arenas that were not filled, claimed that the country was on the brink of ruin, while the vice president promised a more united future as energized supporters chanted alongside her, “We’re not going back.”In stop after stop, the presidential rivals essentially offered up two competing versions of reality on Monday and into early Tuesday. Mr. Trump repeatedly raised the specter of unchecked immigration and the dangers of Democratic policies as he spoke to crowds in North Carolina and Pennsylvania before closing with a midnight rally in Michigan.With a comparatively more optimistic message, Ms. Harris crisscrossed Pennsylvania, which holds 19 electoral votes that could decide the race. Stopping in Scranton, Allentown and Pittsburgh before a nighttime rally in Philadelphia, Ms. Harris talked about bolstering the economy and restoring federal abortion rights. She asserted that Americans were “exhausted” and ready to move on from the politics of the past decade.About 30 miles to the southwest, Mr. Trump was in Reading, Pa., broadly portraying undocumented immigrants as mentally ill criminals and calling those accused of crimes “savages” and “animals.”Both leaned on Hispanic supporters as they tried to rally Latino voters. The pro-Harris rapper Fat Joe, who is Puerto Rican, practically shamed his fellow Latinos in Allentown as he asked, “Where’s your pride?” Mr. Trump, still facing fallout from his rally in New York at which a comedian called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” brought Roberto Clemente Jr., the son of the Puerto Rican baseball legend, to the stage at a rally in Pittsburgh.But Mr. Trump, reaching the end of a grueling marathon of a campaign that began in 2022, looked visibly weary, battling fatigue in front of listless crowds, though he was relatively more upbeat and energized in Michigan. Ms. Harris, still appearing fresh after a three-month sprint, appealed for unity and pressed the contrast to her rival without uttering his name.“The measure of a true leader is based not on who you beat down,” she said. “It is based on who you lift up.”Despite the sharply different tones, polls suggest the race remains tight, with the final New York Times/Siena College surveys showing the candidates tied or holding only narrow leads in all of the seven battleground states.

▲  611 replies