EU is facing the anger of farmers of many countries

first Amendment: 01/23/2024 – 13:31

3 minutes

EU growers have decided to take their discontent to the streets, blocking roads in protest, holding tractor parades and demonstrating in France, Germany, Poland, Romania and the Netherlands.

Environmental regulation, rising fuel prices, and unfair competition from imports from Ukraine lead to protests from agricultural producers.

For Belgian Agriculture Minister David Clarinval, “Farmers’ anger is due to many factors, and they do not necessarily have the same causes from one country to another”, but equally “they must be taken into account.”

For his part, the Irish minister, Charlie McConlogue, said it was possible that agricultural producers “feel under continued pressure because of the many political changes that have taken place in recent years.”

One of the key themes of Tuesday’s meeting is the call for a “strategic dialogue” with farmers launched last year by the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch.

This initiative will formally launch on Thursday this week. Powerful agricultural group COPA-COGECA said it was a “welcome initiative, although its implementation has been delayed.”

Talks starting Thursday will address widespread concerns that the green transition will wreak more havoc on farmers.

European Commission spokesman Olof Gil said, “The strategic dialogue will discuss the issue of how we can ensure decent living standards for farmers and rural communities while supporting agriculture within the limits of the planet.”

Agricultural groups, members of the agri-food sector, NGOs and experts will also participate.

For Spain’s agriculture minister, Luis Planas, the situation could be seen as explosive given the proximity of the European elections in June.

“The extreme right wants to use farmers and ranchers as a political tool. I find this regrettable. They need to be defended, they need to be listened to (…) but not politically manipulated “

broader concerns

Beyond national specifics, farmers are generally concerned about the growing challenges facing agriculture, including extreme weather, bird flu and rising fuel costs.

They also share concerns about the arrival of Ukrainian agricultural products into the EU after customs duties are lifted in 2022.

The EU will decide in June whether to renew the customs policy for Ukrainian agricultural products. European agricultural groups demand limits on imports of Ukrainian products such as grain and sugar.

Another point of contention is what farmers see as excessive regulation.

“Europe’s regulatory machinery is working at full speed, ignoring the geopolitical, climate and economic context, which is undermining farmers’ farms and incomes,” COPA-Cogeca said in a statement.

Farmer discontent has also been a growing concern in the European Parliament.

The largest parliamentary group, the European People’s Party (EPP, right), has often tried to weaken the agricultural texts, arguing that they represent the wishes of farmers.

French EPP MEP Anne Sander pointed out that in the bloc “we share ecological ambitions, but we have to adapt it to the economic situation. Agricultural prices are falling, expenses are skyrocketing and adding additional regulatory effort is too much. “

Sander also accused the commission of ignoring industry warnings for years.

For Portuguese MEP Pedro Marques, vice-president of the Social Democrats block, farmers are “very important voters”.

The ambitious climate targets the EU hopes to achieve in 2040 depend largely on the decarbonization of agribusiness.

Agriculture contributes about 11% of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe.

© 2024 AFP