2024-01-31 17:51:27
The anger of the french farmers lights the fuse for more protests in Europe. To the blockades of weeks ago in France y Germanyfield workers now join in Belgium. This, while in Spain They announce mobilizations in the sector for the coming days.
In French territory, where the demonstrations began more than two weeks ago, there are around 100 blocking points on the country’s roads this Wednesday, January 31, and around 10,000 people are protesting, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald, said in the last few hours. Darmanin.
Furthermore, farmers increased their pressure on the Government with tractors that obstruct the passage on the roads leading to Paris, since last Monday and for the third consecutive day. In Toulouse, in the south of the nation, bales of hay were set on fire near the airport, partially blocking access.
“No matter what happens, we are determined to go to the end (…) If the movement has to last a month, then it will last a month,” said farmer Jean-Baptiste Bongard, while a crowd of his colleagues gathered around small fires on a road in Jossigny, near the French capital, blocked by large trucks.
French gendarmerie vehicles near Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport
The French workers highlight their discontent on a day in which the French Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, will hold meetings in Brussels, where President Emmanuel Macron will also arrive on Thursday, within the framework of the European Union summit, where it is expected to discuss measures to support the sector.
In particular, the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur, the set-aside obligations and the arrival of Ukrainian products to the bloc of 27 countries.
Belgium: farmers block the passage near the European Parliament
Inspired by the mobilizations in France, the Belgian farmers They have been protesting since last Monday, January 29. And this Wednesday, dozens of parked tractors line up in a central square, near the headquarters of the European Parliament, in Brussels.
The authorities advise not to go to the Belgian capital this January 31 or tomorrow, Thursday, the day on which they are expected to intensify the protest in the middle of the EU summit.
Belgian farmers block the Brussels ring
Protesters also block access roads to the container port of Zeebrugein the north and the second largest in the country, which, they say, they plan to block for at least 36 hours.
The protests in France and Belgium follow similar actions in countries such as Germany and Poland. In Spain, farmers warn of similar scenes after announcing that they will join the protests in the coming days, although they have not specified the start date.
Why are farmers protesting in Europe?
Farm workers say that it is increasingly difficult to earn a decent living from their fields, greenhouses and flocks.
Among the main reasons are the increase in energy costs, which increased after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago and which hit the sector hard. which requires tractors, combines and other machinery that consume large amounts of fuel.
In addition, prices for other inputs required in agriculture, particularly fertilizers, have soared.
Farmers, who were already struggling to compete in an increasingly globalized economy, also denounce unfair competition due to the importation of cheaper foods than those grown domestically, while production costs increase for them.
For example, chicken imports have increased, as have Moroccan cherry tomatoes that have skyrocketed from 300 to 70,000 tons per year since 1995according to a Senate study carried out in 2022 on the decreasing competitive strength of French farms.
“Everything we warned about 30 years ago is coming true (…) Our countryside is emptying. Everything we buy has gone up, but we are not getting the same income,” said Damien Brunelle, a farmer of grains and other products in the Aisne region, northeast of Paris.
Ukraine is on the lips of some protesters. Concerns are mounting amid EU membership negotiations. The country is seen as a potentially “fearsome” rival for its vast fields of grain and other agricultural products that have flooded Europe, particularly since Moscow’s invasion began.
Brunelle claims that when the war started in Ukraine, he received 400 euros per ton of wheat he grew. Now, a ton brings you less than half: 190 euros.
“We are worried because they do not have the same regulations as us (…) It will be cheaper for the consumer, so: where will consumers or companies go to process flour, for example? “To products that cost less,” responds Stéphanie Flament, a grain and beet producer east of Paris.
Another of their Achilles heels, they emphasize, are the strict regulations of European governments, which they consider excessive, on environmental protection. They say they are stifled by bureaucracy and bound by national and EU rules governing agriculture, land use and the distribution of billions of euros in agricultural subsidies.
A worker next to small chickens on a farm in Forges-de-Lanouee, western France |
Farmers complain they are losing out to rivals from countries with fewer constraints and lower costs.
As if that were not enough, they emphasize, the so-called land set aside rules are expected to come into force, which force farmers to maintain a certain amount of non-productive land.
Amid strong discontent, the European Commission recommended that the bloc’s leaders delay the introduction of these measures, but farmers are asking that they be withdrawn and that aid to the agricultural sector be increased in the face of decisions that increase the costs of agriculture.
Protests are growing ahead of European Parliament elections in June, in which the far right, for whom farmers represent a growing constituency, is seen as making gains.
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