Concerns and successes: this is what farmers’ protests in other countries have achieved

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Strike chaos in Germany: Farmers across the country have called for protests. They block highways and inner cities with tractors. The reason: austerity measures by the federal government.

But it is not the first time that things have simmered in German agriculture. The farmers have repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction with the government in the past. Farmers in other European countries also vented their frustration last year – with varying concerns and successes.

Since 2019 and the ban on projects that release nitrogen, there have been repeated protests from farmers in the Netherlands. The goal of reducing nitrogen emissions by 50 percent by 2030 entailed a necessary reform of agricultural production, as “RND” reports.

Dutch farmers therefore feared the end of 30 percent of their companies. With protest actions such as manure on the streets and arson, they demanded a future perspective from politics. The right-wing populist protest party Farmer Citizens Movement (BBB) ​​was also founded. In the March 2023 elections, it became the strongest power in many provinces.

Farmers demonstrated with hundreds of tractors in France, including Paris, last November. Farmers protested against the strict requirements and regulations and against the ban on certain pesticides. The lack of alternatives for agriculture and food security, which seemed to be threatened by sometimes cheaper imports, was also criticized. This was reported by “Spiegel”.

The French achieved partial success: according to the French Ministry of Agriculture, funding for agri-environmental and climate measures (MAEC) and for promoting the conversion to organic farming should be increased by 150 million euros.

The Poles were also dissatisfied: last year farmers protested against the fall in prices of Polish products as a result of cheap grain imports from Ukraine. They blocked the border crossing because after the Russian attack on Ukraine, grain was exported via third countries such as Romania and Poland.

Thus, Ukrainian grain entered the Polish market and prices fell. The farmers therefore called for a ban on the import of grain and other food from Ukraine. The ban was issued – in October a grain agreement was also concluded between Poland and Ukraine: to protect Polish markets, the grain would be exported to other countries via Lithuania, according to ‘Agrarheute’.

Farmers in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary also went on strike because of the negative effects of cheap Ukrainian grain. Transit from Ukraine is prohibited in these countries.

The last major farmers’ strike in Switzerland was several years ago. More than 10,000 farmers gathered in front of the Federal Palace in October 1996: they demanded more support from the Federal Council. In particular, the plan to slaughter 230,000 cows because of the rampant cattle disease was denounced.

The protest developed into a two-hour street battle between police and demonstrators. The escalation with rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas completely ignored the farmers’ concerns. The farmers’ demonstration went down as one of the largest in Swiss history.

Source: Blick