Farmers on the barricades: the nonsense is steaming through all of Europe

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The protest of the German farmers had an effect. After nationwide blockades and demonstrations, the government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz, 65, agreed to make concessions and withdrew the planned abolition of tax benefits for agricultural vehicles. Subsidies for agricultural diesel should not be reduced all at once, but gradually. But from the farmers’ perspective, that is not enough; that is why the protests continue.

Farmers are also taking to the streets in many other European countries. Protests broke out in France in mid-January. Falling incomes, EU environmental regulations and escalating demands leave farmers red-faced. The final blow was the EU’s negotiations with the Mercosur states of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay on a free trade agreement. The farmers are afraid of cheap competition from South America.

In protest against European agricultural policy and to maintain state subsidies, farmers in Italy also drove their tractors through villages and towns. Several hundred farmers demonstrated last week in the regions of Tuscany, Lombardy, Calabria and Sardinia. They blocked highways and streets. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini (50) described the agricultural policy of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (65) as “catastrophic”. The right-wing League politician said: “The tractors on the roads all over Europe are in trouble with the current European Commission.”

Unrest towards the EU

Farmers in Poland are angry about the lifting of import tariffs on wheat from Ukraine. Producer prices are therefore under pressure. Farmers in Lithuania also took to the barricades against austerity plans and agricultural policies in general. The protests of Romanian farmers subsided again after concessions from the government. But they continue to demand more tax cuts, more subsidies and cheaper loans.

The farmers have now reached the EU capital Brussels with their tractors. During the EU summit last week, almost 1,300 tractors blocked the roads around the European Parliament. Here they expressed what is palpable in all European farmers’ protests: the discomfort with the EU’s agricultural policy.

Ursula von der Leyen responded, promising farmers that she would limit agricultural imports from Ukraine and reduce bureaucracy in agricultural policy. However, the country is still committed to negotiating a free trade agreement with the Mercosur states. But the ‘legitimate interests of the farmers’ will be taken into account. (psc)

Source: Blick