Tractors flood Brussels asking for change in EU policy

Several farming groups gathered in the European district of Brussels on Thursday (1 February) to protest against EU agricultural policy, but with very different demands and amid reports of infiltrators causing clashes with police. 

Police estimated that around a thousand tractors blocked traffic in Brussels on Thursday as EU leaders met for a summit and farmers continued to protest in several EU countries.

The horns of the convoy could be heard from early morning. Tractors pulled up around the European Parliament and protesters gathered in Luxembourg Square, some lighting fires, burning tyres and throwing objects at police cordoning off EU buildings. 

“Are those farmers?” asked Koen De Sutter – an independent farmer who attended the demonstration – pointing to the violent crowd.

Meanwhile, others played music and spoke to journalists about their concerns. 

Young farmers, environmental activists, and members of the anti-globalisation movement voiced some contrasting demands, but most revolved around the EU’s trade policy and green agenda, as well as tackling farmers’ incomes. 

This is the latest in a series of protests by farmers since the beginning of the year, with tractors taking to the streets in France, Germany, Romania, Poland and Lithuania. Demonstrations have intensified in Belgium, Italy and Portugal this week, and regional rallies are planned in Spain later this month. 

Trade: In the eye of the storm

The European Coordination Via Campesina carried banners against the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, which is currently being negotiated.

Farmers have long opposed the trade deal with the South American bloc, saying it would put them at a competitive disadvantage by opening the door to a flood of cheaper agricultural imports that do not meet the same environmental standards as EU products.

In a bid to ease farmers’ discontent, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of Thursday’s summit, and pledged to push back against Mercosur. 

Guillaume Van Binst, a member of the Federation of Young Farmers (FJA), told Euractiv that, since the 1990s, EU policies have forced European farmers to compete “with other types of agriculture that have far fewer standards, that produce at lower costs and that are invading the European market”. 

However, José María Castilla Baró, a representative of the Spanish young farmers’ association ASAJA, told Euractiv at the demonstration that European farmers actually benefit from international competition.

In his view, free trade agreements with third countries are beneficial as long as they include “mirror clauses” that force producers on both sides to respect the same standards. 

The green transition

Another concern for farmers is the economic and administrative burden of EU sustainability requirements. 

“Environmental ambitions are not accompanied by sufficient budgets to reward farmers,”  Van Binst said.

Similarly, Enrico Parisi from Italy’s Coldiretti said the EU’s Green Deal was asking farmers “to meet difficult standards”, while they lacked the investment capacity and the technology to achieve them. “If we don’t meet those targets (…) we will increase food imports”. 

While some farmers said the EU was going too far with its green agenda, environmental activists from the group Extinction Rebellion said Europe needed to “move fast”. 

“But we must not leave [farmers] behind, it’s social justice,” said Marianne Schoofs. 

The European Commission proposed on Wednesday (31 January) a one-year extension of one of the environmental requirements of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), namely the rules on fallow lands. 

Asking for a decent living

Despite the diversity of the protesters, a common theme of the demonstration was farmers’ poor economic situation, with some pointing to imbalances in the food chain.

In recent weeks, supermarket distribution centres have been targeted in several countries as farmers complain of unfair trading practices by retailers.

Last week, Germany and France pledged to step up controls on manufacturers and distributors who fail to comply with the national laws protecting farmers’ incomes, blaming their price-setting power for the poor economic situation of many farms. 

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and Zoran Radosavljevic]

Read more with Euractiv

Irish farmers set to join European demonstrations

Irish farmers will protest across the country on Thursday (1 February) at 7 pm in a show of solidarity with other EU member states’ farmers and amid struggles of their own.