Imports from Ukraine, fuel costs, ecological standards… A few months before the June elections, the anger of farmers is expressed on Tuesday at a meeting of European ministers in the sector, before the launch on Thursday by Brussels of a “dialogue strategic” intended to defuse their grievances. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen had promised such an initiative in September, ensuring that agriculture and nature protection could “go hand in hand”.
The meeting comes at a time when, between highway blockages and tractor parades, protest movements are affecting France, Germany, Romania and Poland, after the Netherlands. A “welcome, but late initiative”, reacted Copa-Cogeca, the organization of the majority European agricultural unions, regretting that the questions covered “remain unclear”.
The agricultural issue is explosive before the European elections: polls predict a surge from the far right and nationalists, who are taking up the subject. Stated objective of Thursday’s meeting? “Overcoming the divide in debates on the ecological transition” at the heart of the legislative texts of the EU Green Deal. On the program: farmer income, sustainability of practices, technological innovation, competitiveness.
“The idea is to forge a common vision of the future” by “ensuring that farmers are rewarded for their contribution to environmental objectives”, summarizes Olof Gill, spokesperson for the European executive. Agricultural organizations, but also the agri-food sector, NGOs and experts received their invitation last week to participate in this first meeting under the chairmanship of a German academic.
“Regulatory overheating”
If the recent demonstrations evoke various national factors (end of diesel subsidies in Germany, for example), the shocks have multiplied everywhere: extreme climatic episodes (drought, floods), avian flu, surge in energy prices. Another divisive subject: the influx of Ukrainian agricultural products into the EU since the lifting of customs duties in 2022. Brussels must decide shortly on its renewal in June, with probable “safeguard” mechanisms.
Beyond Polish and Romanian farmers, agricultural organizations are calling for restrictions on these imports (cereals, poultry, sugar, etc.) accused of lowering prices – echoing recurring criticism of the free trade agreements negotiated by Brussels. Above all, a common “exasperation” is expressed in a diffuse way in the face of “regulatory overheating”, believes Christiane Lambert, president of Copa. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the first item in the European budget, reinforced environmental obligations (fallows, hedges, etc.), and since then “the regulatory machine has been operating at full speed, ignoring the geopolitical, climatic and economic context”. alarms his organization.
In its sights: the “nature restoration” law promoting the repair of degraded agricultural ecosystems (peat bogs, etc.) — although largely watered down after a violent battle waged by the right in the European Parliament. Another text regulating polluting emissions from large livestock farms will ultimately spare cattle farms, but will concern pigs and poultry. MEPs, however, rejected legislation reducing the use of pesticides.
Faced with growing resistance from farmers – and conservative elected officials – the Commission gave assurances, proposing to relax the protection of wolves and abandoning a nutritional labeling project. In addition, Brussels opened its agricultural “crisis reserve” to the entire Twenty-Seven in June at the increased amount.
“Alerts ignored”
In the European Parliament, the subject has emerged in debates in recent months. The EPP (right), the first group in Strasbourg, worked to drastically water down agricultural texts, wanting to become the voice of farmers. “We share the environmental ambition, but it must be adapted to the economic situation. Agricultural prices are falling, costs are exploding, by adding additional normative efforts, it is too much,” says EPP MEP Anne Sander.
This dialogue “comes much too late. The Commission ignored the agricultural world and the warnings for four years,” she says. “Farmers are a crucial electorate, the right and the far right want to give them the impression that the environmental transition is being done against them,” denounces the vice-president of the Socialists (S&D) Pedro Marques. However, he recognizes the need to provide appropriate “support” as the EU prepares to open the debate on its ambitious 2040 climate objectives, which would involve painful decarbonization of the agricultural world (11% of greenhouse gas emissions). European greenhouses).