World

Commissioner Hansen presents plan to cut farming bureaucracy in EU

Published

12 months ago

May 16, 2025

Commissioner Hansen presents plan to cut farming bureaucracy in EU

European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen presented his simplification plan for the agricultural sector during a meeting organised by Euronews.

The European Commission unveiled the plan, which aims to simplify the European Union’s agricultural rulebook, on Wednesday in Brussels.

The measures are designed to reduce what the Commission sees as unnecessary administrative burdens in implementing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the EU’s farming subsidy framework.

Hansen believes the proposed strategy should serve all stakeholders. The plan, therefore, aims to reduce the administrative burden for farmers and member states.

“What is felt to be an administrative burden on the farm is not only the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy), but also environmental legislation, health legislation, and often national or regional legislation, so I think that everyone must contribute to reducing this bureaucracy,” Hansen explained.

This simplification plan could potentially save farmers up to €1.58 billion a year and the national authorities €210 million. The package of measures is aimed in particular at organic farming and small farms, which play an essential role in rural areas’ economic activity.

The plan proposes exemptions from environmental rules, also known as conditionalities. Hansen points out that this package aims not to reform the sector, but to adjust certain rules.

For example, Hansen said, “If grassland remains in place for more than five years, it becomes permanent grassland. This is a devaluation of this farmland because it can no longer be used as arable land. After four years or so, farmers plough to preserve this status.”

“For me, it’s more valuable if the grass stays for seven years rather than five. So this is environmental progress. It’s the applicability (of the rules) that changes,” he added.

Flexibility and financial support

The European Commission also wants to help small farmers obtain financial aid and make their farms more competitive. The institution is considering an offer of up to €50,000.

Hansensuggested digitalising the sector, mentioning, for example, a digital portfolio to facilitate checks.

“I, as a farm, have my digital wallet and if the water authority needs to know something about my land, they can turn to that wallet,” Hansen explained.

Hansen further reiterated his desire to make the profession attractive again and to help professionals.

“It’s very important that we reduce the stress on our farmers, because at the moment it all depends on the Member State. They have to deal with five, six, seven controls a year, which causes enormous stress for our farmers,” Hansen insisted.

“That’s why we also want to reduce these controls, and the member states are also obliged to act. We want to reduce the number of checks to just one a year,” he added.

Environmental NGOs believe that the plan threatens the agricultural sector’s green objectives. Hansen, however, rejects this criticism and emphasises that he is responding to the concerns of farmers, who have repeatedly protested against overly restrictive European regulations.

Yet, this simplification plan is only the first step. The European Commission intends to present new measures later this year.

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World

Map: 6.1-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Northern Japan

Published

3 hours ago

April 27, 2026

Press Room

Map: 6.1-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Northern Japan

Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. All times on the map are Japan time. The New York Times

A strong, 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck in Japan on Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The temblor happened at 5:23 a.m. Japan time about 11 miles west of Sarabetsu, Japan, data from the agency shows.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.

Source: United States Geological Survey | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Japan time. Shake data is as of Sunday, April 26 at 4:44 p.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Sunday, April 26 at 11:54 p.m. Eastern.

World

Hormuz crisis spurs $24B Iraq trade corridor as Gulf routes shift

Published

5 hours ago

April 26, 2026

Press Room

Hormuz crisis spurs B Iraq trade corridor as Gulf routes shift

Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade fuels global oil market concerns as Trump admin meets execs

Jonathan Hunt reports live from London on Iran’s aggressive actions in the Strait of Hormuz, leading to a 95% reduction in commercial shipping traffic. Mohamed El-Erian, Gramercy Funds Management Chair, analyzes the global oil market disruption, with crude oil prices soaring. The Trump administration meets with oil executives as international allies like Japan and European nations issue a joint statement, expressing readiness to ensure safe passage through the vital waterway.

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The Strait of Hormuz crisis is driving nations’ efforts to develop alternative Gulf-to-Europe trade routes, with Iraq’s $24 billion “Development Road” project at the forefront, analyst says.

The route from Iraq’s Grand Faw Port to Turkey and on to Europe, is advancing “with discipline,” Middle East Council on Global Affairs analyst Muhanad Seloom told Fox News Digital, calling it a “permanent” and “transformative” wartime shift.

Seloom’s comments came as President Donald Trump warned Tehran against further escalation in the Gulf and signaled the U.S. is prepared to act to keep the strait open.

Iranian forces have laid mines and threatened commercial traffic in the narrow waterway. As of Sunday, the shipping route remains effectively closed.

IRAN IS ‘TRYING TO GIVE THE GLOBAL ECONOMY A HEART ATTACK’ BY CLOSING STRAIT OF HORMUZ, UAE MINISTER SAYS

A man walks along a road during a sand storm in Basra, Iraq, on March 4, 2022. (Hussein Faleh/AFP)

“Iraq’s Development Road means every container moving through Basra instead of Iranian-controlled waters is a reduction in Tehran’s leverage over Iraq,” said Seloom.

“The real scale, independent estimates put the Development Road closer to $24 billion, and the project is now moving with discipline,” he said.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani inaugurated the first 63-kilometer stretch of the Development Road in 2025. Phase 1 is due for completion by 2028.

“What was described by the Iraqi government as a flagship of Iraqi statecraft now has a regional rationale that governments and financiers treat as essential rather than aspirational,” Seloom, an assistant professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, explained.

“Sudani seems to be positioning Iraq exactly where he thinks its geography always suggested, as a connecting state between the Gulf, Turkey and Europe,” he said.

WATCH SHIPPING THROUGH THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ GRIND TO A HALT AMID IRAN CONFLICT

Cargo ships are anchored in the Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, on March 11, 2026. (REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo)

But other regional infrastructure, Seloom says, is also being pushed forward in parallel.

Saudi Arabia’s East-West Petroline pipeline is operating near its 7 million-barrel-per-day capacity, with expansion plans under review.

The UAE’s ADCOP pipeline to Fujairah is also at maximum use, with a second line under discussion, he said. “Turkey’s Zangezur and Middle Corridors bypass Iran via the Caucasus and are four to five years out.”

He added: “Six Gulf-backed overland fiber projects are also underway through Syria, Iraq and the Horn of Africa.”

Iran reimposed closure measures on the Strait of Hormuz on April 18, reducing traffic to just a handful of vessels per day compared with a pre-war average of roughly 130 to 140.

The restrictions, including on ships, have come under fire in recent days, and interceptions trace back to the start of the war on Feb. 28, when Tehran first moved to block transit following U.S.-Israeli strikes.

IRAN WAR, 11 DAYS IN: US CONTROLS SKIES, OIL SURGES AND THE REGION BRACES FOR WHAT’S NEXT

Maps4Media processed and enhanced Sentinel-2 satellite imagery shows a broad view of the Strait of Hormuz between southern Iran and Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, including surrounding islands, coastal terrain, and turquoise shallow-water zones at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. (Maps4media via Getty Images)

“Hormuz remains indispensable for energy, but it is no longer treated as a default. That shift is permanent given the war,” Seloom said.

For Iraq’s corridor, it is “potentially transformative,” Seloom said, with $4 billion per year in projected transit revenue and a repositioning from an oil rentier state to a logistics state.

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“Turkey will be the single largest beneficiary. Combined with the Zangezur and Middle Corridors, Ankara becomes the overland bridge between Asia and Europe,” he said. “Europe will have an additional overland option on a 2028-plus timeline, but nothing for the current crisis. It marginally reduces structural dependence on the unreliable Suez–Red Sea axis.”

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.