Why are European farmers in turmoil?

Thousands of French farmers took their tractors this Monday and set off for the French capital with the aim of besieging it in the process a massive protest taking place in various parts of Europe.

French farmers, as well as their counterparts across much of the European Union (EU), are demanding that authorities take measures that will allow them to overcome inflation and the impact of the war in Ukraine, but also that some of the environmental policies imposed be lifted checked. in recent years.

Several sections of eight motorways in France were closed. The situation created a crisis for the new prime minister. G Abriel Attal, who traveled to a farm in the southwest of the country to offer a range of measures to calm frustration.

French authorities have deployed thousands of agents on the highways leading to Paris to prevent farmers from reaching the capital.

Some of the sector’s concerns, such as what they see as growing bureaucracy, are national in nature. But others point to broader issues, such as cost of agricultural diesel, delays in the payment of subsidies by the EU or competition from imports.

The farmers assure that it is a fight for their survival and that they will not stop. Benoit Duranda grain farmer, assured French radio station BFM TV that the goal had been achieved “Paralyze France.” “We are besieging the city of Chartres, an hour from Paris, to put pressure on the government,” he said.

And when asked whether it was necessary to extend the blockade to the capital, he answered without hesitation: “It will happen naturally. Parisians will starve. The goal is to starve the Parisians. That’s all.”

To prevent this scenario, the authorities have deployed thousands of agents and dozens of armored emergency vehicles on the various roads leading to Paris.

The police operation was particularly large near the town of Rungis (about 17 kilometers south of Paris) and where the main food market that supplies the city with food is located.

However, government measures could not prevent some unfortunate events. A few days earlier, A young farmer, Alexandra Sonac, and her 12-year-old daughter died when a car crashed into a picket line of farmers on a road south of Toulouse.

Security forces guarded the Rungis market to prevent any kind of interference that could affect food supplies to Paris.

But blockades and protests are not only occurring in France. In Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands Similar actions are also recorded.

In Germany, farmers are protesting against the abolition of tax breaks for agricultural diesel, which they say will drive them out of business.

Hundreds of tractors attacked the city of Hamburg and from there, some rural leaders called for the resignation of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the end of the “traffic light” government, alluding to the red, yellow and green colors of the Social Democrats, Liberal Democrats and Greens.

European farmers’ dissatisfaction is usually fueled by anger at EU policies, and this time was no exception.

The agricultural sector views the measures introduced by the EU to renew its agriculture with suspicion Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of 60,000 million euros and make it more sustainable. More than 70% of that money is spent on direct payments to farmers, which serve as a safety net.

The reform includes the obligation to use at least 4% of arable land for non-productive traits, as well as the obligation to implement crop rotations and Reduce fertilizer use by at least 20%. Many farmers have long argued that these measures would harm the competitiveness of the European agricultural sector compared to imports.

They also fear that inflation has dramatically reduced the value of their direct payments. “Farmers have to achieve much more with less support,” emphasizes Luc Vernet from the think tank Farm Europe based in Brussels (Belgium) to the BBC. “And they no longer see how to deal with the situation,” he concluded.

In some countries, protests are nothing new. Demonstrations took place in the Netherlands for the first time in 2019 against the government’s demand to halve animal production in order to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.

And Brussels residents have long been accustomed to farmers descending on the city’s European district to spray milk on buildings or fill the streets with livestock to protest EU agricultural rules.

Read Also:  Trump Orders Closure of Spanish White House Website and Social Media

Now, however, the domino effect occurs The war in Ukraine has sparked protests in almost all parts of Europe. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 effectively blocked trade routes in the Black Sea. The EU intervened by temporarily lifting restrictions on imports from Ukraine, causing its agricultural products to flood European markets.

The playing field would never be level: the average Ukrainian organic farm is about 1,000 hectares; Their European equivalents measure just 41 hectares on average.

Prices in neighboring countries such as Hungary, Poland and Romania fell suddenly and local farmers were unable to sell their crops.

In the spring of 2023, tractors blocked the same Polish roads where volunteers had housed Ukrainian refugees a year earlier.

The EU soon imposed trade restrictions on Ukraine’s exports to its neighbors, but only for a limited period. When the ban expired, the governments of Budapest, Warsaw and Bratislava announced their own restrictions.

Ukraine quickly filed a lawsuit; Relations deteriorated and compassion for a country defending itself against Russian invasion faded into the background.

Now the Eastern European countries are demanding that the EU finally review its trade policy towards Ukraine.

In Romaniawhere farmers and transport companies protested against high diesel prices, insurance and EU measures as well as competition from Ukraine, the media outlet Kronika said this month that the fact that the EU had allowed the import of cheap Ukrainian products “Like someone who can’t swim trying to save a drowning person. They’re both drowning.”

In PolandOn January 24, farmers launched a nationwide protest against Ukrainian agricultural imports. “Ukrainian grain should go where it belongs: to Asian or African markets, not to Europe,” he told Polish media Adrian Wawrzyniak, spokesman for the Polish Farmers’ Association. There are similar opinions in Slovakia and Hungary.

Southern Europe has so far been spared from the protests, but that could soon change. Christiane LambertPresident of the Committee of Agricultural Professional Associations (COPA), Europe’s largest farmers’ association, has predicted that Italian and Spanish farmers will begin their own mobilizations in the near future.

In this case, in the rejection of measures to combat climate change. The Spanish and Portuguese governments are considering its introduction Restrictions on water use in some regions due to severe drought.

A few days ago, farmers in Sicily blocked roads in protest against the regional government’s alleged failure to compensate them for last summer’s intense and prolonged heatwave and drought. “We are on our knees, the drought has halved our harvest,” farmer Giuseppe Gulli told Rai News. He also accused the EU Help “big corporations.”

With the European elections approaching in June, Eurosceptic parties are finding an audience for their messages. Jordan BardellaA member of the French National Assembly (Marine Le Pen’s party) was also seen among the demonstrators. The right-wing extremist party, for its part Alternative for Germany (AfD) has also championed the cause of farmers.

With European elections just around the corner, new French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal is keen to avoid his first political crisis.

However, Vernet dismissed these concerns. “Farmers are not extremists. In fact, Europe’s farmers are the first Europeans because they know best how important Europe is to them,” he said.

In Germany, ministers have rushed to water down proposals to scrap tax breaks on agricultural diesel for farmers that had caused a stir.

The change is now being implemented gradually, but farmers want the subsidy cuts to be completely removed.

“Everything that has been announced so far has only increased farmers’ anger instead of calming it down,” said the President of the German Farmers’ Association. Joachim Rukwied.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk promised to meet with Ukrainian representatives in early March to reach an agreement regulating the transit and export of products.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, acknowledged that “division and polarization is increasing” and launched a “strategic dialogue” between agricultural groups and EU decision-makers. The language is introspective but also vague.

And it probably won’t be enough for farmers across Europe who feel forgotten, cheated or unable to feed their families.

Recent Articles

Related News

Leave A Reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here