Farmers across Europe protest costly climate change regulations

By Nuran Erkul and Ata Ufuk Seker

BRUSSELS (AA) – Protests by farmers across Europe against rising issues in the agricultural sector have grown bigger, spreading from the Netherlands and Belgium to other European countries.

Farmers, mainly in Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, and Hungary, are rallying against the European Union’s (EU) agricultural policies by blocking roads with tractors.

According to them, the policies and regulations to combat climate change are costly for them.

The most powerful and widespread of these protests first took place in the Netherlands back in 2019, where farmers blocked traffic in several areas with more than 2,000 tractors on the roads due to an independent committee report that was submitted to the government, calling for drastic measures in the agricultural sector to reduce nitrogen emissions, which cause land, sea, and air pollution.

Farmers in Belgium followed suit by stopping the traffic flow with their tractors on the freeway in Brussels in 2023, due to the increase in costs of environmental regulations.

The protests have grown in intensity since then, with recently farmers in other European capitals and cities also beginning to make themselves heard.

Farmers are blocking main roads with tractors in Berlin, Paris, and Rome, as well as other cities, to draw public attention to the EU policies and their declining incomes as a result of them.

In addition to drawing attention to increased regulations, protesting farmers are also highlighting the cuts in government funding, skyrocketing energy, fuel, and fertilizer prices in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war, cheap grain products imported from Ukraine and restrictions on water use.

They argue that the EU is making agricultural production more difficult by imposing strict rules on the use of carbon fertilizers and pesticides under the European Green Deal.

- Germany

Farmers have been protesting in many areas of Germany since December 2023 against the government’s plans to abolish subsidies for agriculture.

Farmers riding tractors rallied to the headquarters of the governing parties to protest against the planned cuts in agricultural diesel subsidies.

Following the protests, the German government said that instead of abruptly ceasing the tax reduction on agricultural diesel for farmers, they are planning to reduce it by 40% in 2023, and 30% in 2025, and completely abolish it in 2026.

As for the tax exemption on farming vehicles, they said they had given up on abolishing it.

Despite the government’s response, farmers started a wider protest on Jan. 8, which spanned across an entire week.

- France

Farmers in France, the EU’s largest agricultural producer, are protesting the government and retailer efforts to curb food inflation, as these efforts resulted in high costs of energy, fertilizer, and transport. They have been blocking roads and highways with tractors for days now to get the government to hear their demands.

They also say that these “excessive regulations on environmental protection” cause them problems and that the government funding is insufficient.

Citing low incomes in several cities and the government’s agricultural policies, including a ban on pesticides, farmers blocked roads to Paris on Tuesday.

- Italy

Similarly, farmers in Italy are protesting the EU’s agricultural policies. Blocking roads with tractors, they are protesting low wages and price pressures. With a focus on the European Green Deal, they organized tractor convoys at the entrances of some small cities and faced law enforcement when they tried to block the Autostrada A1 motorway in the small town of Orte 78 kilometers (48.4 miles) away from the Italian capital of Rome.

Additionally, farmers in Italy also interrupted the traffic flow with tractors in the cities of Viterbo, Foggia, and Udine.

- Spain

Farmers in Spain took to the streets of the capital Madrid in January 2023 to protest the government’s restriction on water from the Tagus, the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula, which is now drought-stricken after record temperatures in the country.

The farmers also plan to protest again in February against the EU regulations and lack of government support.

They say the EU regulations to protect the environment are undermining the profitability of crops and driving up food prices – sharing similar complaints with their counterparts in other countries.

- Romania

Farmers in Romania protested high labor costs last week, blocking access to the Ukrainian border crossing.

Their focus was on high diesel prices, rising insurance costs, the EU measures to protect the environment and the pressure of Ukrainian agricultural imports on domestic prices.

- Poland

Farmers across Poland protested with tractors last week against Brussels’ policies, demanding the reinstatement of trade restrictions with Ukraine to prevent Ukrainian food products from flooding the Polish market, and opposing the measures introduced by the European Green Deal.

- Belgium

Fed up with declining incomes, lengthy administrative procedures, and climate regulations, farmers in Belgium blocked a part of the Brussels Ring Road with tractors during rush hour, stopping the flow of traffic, while another group of protesters tried to draw attention to their problems by pulling their tractors in front of the European Parliament.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim from Istanbul