EU forced to calm anger of protesting farmers across Europe

This article was originally published in English

Roads have been blocked across France, manure and agricultural waste have been dumped in front of public offices and hay bales strewn around fast food restaurants.

It all started last year, when Farmers started removing road signs And put them upside down. Sometimes he added the motto “On marche sur les têtes”, meaning “We walk on our heads”, in reference to how his world had been turned upside down.

Since then, the protests have become increasingly confrontational and a tragic incident occurred on Tuesday A farmer and his daughter died and her husband were seriously injured in a traffic accident at a protest barricade in the Ariège region of south-western France.

France’s largest farmers’ union, FNSEA, says protests will continue “this week and as long as necessary.” The association is studying the possibility of this take action on a national level As the movement progresses.

But it’s not just about France. european farmerThose already facing economic fallout from the climate crisis are speaking out against ecological policies they see as contradictory, unfair, and worrisome for the future.

Why are French farmers angry?

The anger among French farmers is due to a complex web of different policies and funding cuts.

Farmers had to face the fact that agricultural diesel would become more expensive due to the end of subsidy. Increase of 47 million euros annually in water consumption rates and say that complex regulations have made it difficult for them to know what they can and cannot do.

Too Oppose bans on pesticides and herbicides Promoted by the EU Green Deal and a new EU-wide treaty that could mean imports of more Brazilian and Argentine beef. Farmers say it is very difficult to compete with these countries, because they are not subject to the same strict animal welfare standards.

Another disappointment occurs when Request France’s annual EU subsidies of 9 billion euros, According to farmers, they spend at least one day a week completing the necessary paperwork.

According to him, contradictory policies force the sector to attempt to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture while simultaneously increasing food production. With fewer people working To produce the food needed to feed France, many are worried about the future.

In December, some of their complaints were heard when the government backed down from its plan to increase license fees for groundwater pumping and pesticide release. this has also happened Diesel price hike postponed Removing subsidies and a proposed ban on the controversial herbicide glyphosate have been scrapped in an effort to appease protesters.

Following a meeting on Monday between the FSEA, new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau, union head Arnaud Rousseau told French media. “The action will not be removed until a concrete decision is taken”,

The French government has declared that it has “heard your calls” and assured a press conference on Wednesday that it would make announcements in the coming days.

Outrage spread across Europe

French farmers’ protests have spread to the Netherlands and Germany. They all share the same concern about unfair and unpredictable decisions of governments in agricultural matters.

Last year, Dutch farmers block roadsThrowed manure on the streets and protested in front of politicians’ homes over rules to reduce nitrogen emissions.

As one of the world’s largest agricultural exporters, the industry is responsible for almost half of the Netherlands’ total nitrogen emissions. In 2019, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled on the nitrogen permit system had failed to prevent these emissions from damaging natural reserves Specially protected areas known as the Natura 2000 network.

That’s when the government quickly said it needed to take “drastic measures” to improve the situation. Purchase and closure of livestock farms,

The sudden announcement of cutbacks made cattle farmers feel that they were not being treated fairly. They have already reduced nitrogen emissions significantly over the last 30 years And funding for rural areas was reduced in favor of urban investment.

Previous government policies had encouraged them to expand and now they were told they had to downsize their farms. The protests led to the establishment of the right-wing political party Boerburgerbeweging (BBB)., which promised farmers a greater stake in agricultural policy. In 2023, the BBB won the provincial elections and, following the Senate elections, became the party with the most seats in the Dutch Senate.

Anger has increased in Germany too There are plans to gradually eliminate fuel subsidies, which amount to 3,000 euros a year for an average company. Long-term anger over improper application of environmental policies has added fuel to the fire.

Farmers have been taking to the streets since December and were joined by environmental activists in Berlin on Monday. The roads were full of tractors.

They declare themselves in favor of organic and non-genetically modified agriculture, but this must be accompanied by subsidies or, at least, fair prices for the food they produce. It is a sentiment shared by many who took to the streets across Europe.

Could agriculture be one of the main issues in the European elections?

Anger has also grown in the east of the EU, with protests in Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria, where farmers are complaining. Unfair competition from grain from Ukraine at low prices,

In Romania and Bulgaria, border crossings have been blocked by tractors and trucks. Last April, Poland saw its agriculture minister resign due to the conflict, although new subsidies have calmed the situation somewhat.

However, many remain concerned about extremely high taxes and increasingly stringent regulations. while farmers Battling the effects of drought, floods and wildfires, They claim that ecological policies squeeze them even further.

Protests could spread in the coming weeks, with Spain and Italy also set to join the movement. On Thursday, the European Commission will launch strategic talks with farmers’ unions, agricultural companies and experts to calm things down.

However, tensions continue to rise and agriculture is emerging as one of the main topics of debate in the EU ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.