
Italy called on Wednesday in a letter to EU's Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen to lift the bloc's carbon border tax in order to ease pressure on fertiliser prices for European farmers. The date for the Mercosur signature is still not clear.
Expectations for Rome to greenlight the trade deal had risen in Brussels after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged on Tuesday to unlock additional funding for farmers to the tune of €45 billion as soon as 2028 in a move designed to sway the pivotal support of the Italian government in favour of the deal.