(Reuters) – The European Commission will propose an exemption to rules that force farmers to leave part of their land fallow in return for European Union (EU) subsidies, an EU spokesperson said on Tuesday .
On Monday, the French Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, indicated that France would push for a lifting of the fallow obligation while a summit of European leaders is planned for Thursday.
In order to benefit from European aid, farmers are required to set aside around 4% of their agricultural land fallow. This obligation was temporarily lifted following the war in Ukraine and fears over food supplies.
“The idea is to continue to give an exemption to these rules,” declared the spokesperson for the European Commission during a press briefing, while refusing to give more details.
The obligation to leave land fallow is one of the measures criticized by French farmers who are particularly opposed to the increase in community environmental standards. The farmers’ strike movement is also observed in several other countries in Europe, such as Belgium and Germany.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; French version Zhifan Liu and Blandine Hénault, editing by Kate Entringer)
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