by Yara Nardi
VITERBO, Italy (Reuters) – Italian farmers, protesting against inflation of regulations and “unfair” competition from countries outside the European Union, demonstrated in Milan on Monday and some were heading towards Rome at the wheel of their tractors.
Farmers from Tuscany, in particular, headed to the Italian capital, waving the Italian flag and carrying signs with slogans such as: “No farmers, no food”.
They are expected to regroup in the suburbs of Rome, awaiting further demonstrations to come this week.
“We are going to Rome to have a confrontation with our politicians so that they can solve our problems,” said Davide Rosati, a Tuscan farmer.
The demands of transalpine farmers are partly the same as those of their European counterparts who have expressed their anger in recent days.
They are protesting against unfair competition from products from countries outside the EU, the cost of fuel and European standards put in place to protect the environment and biodiversity.
If anger has subsided in France and Germany, it is still strong in other countries on the continent. Angry farmers blocked the road linking Belgium to the Netherlands between the cities of Maastricht and Liège on Monday.
A COW IN THE CITY
In Milan, the country’s economic capital, a small group of farmers demonstrated with a cow in front of the Lombardy regional government offices.
Italian farmers are also demanding the return of income tax relief introduced in 2017 but abandoned in the 2024 finance law.
Traveling to Japan, the President of the Italian Council, Giorgia Meloni, declared that Italy had done more than its European neighbors to support farmers.
“Obviously, there is always the possibility of doing better and I am always ready to listen to requests from workers who are essential to us,” she said.
She stressed that her government had maintained fuel subsidies for farmers and increased funds for agriculture from 5 to 8 billion euros in its post-Covid recovery plan.
(With Geert de Clercq, Crispian Balmer and Alvise Armelli; French version Zhifan Liu, edited by Sophie Louet)
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