From Poland to Portugal, farmers have won remarkable concessions in response to waves of street action, reshaping the European Union’s green politics months ahead of European Parliament elections.

Environmental activists and analysts say the policy backsliding illustrates the considerable political influence of farmers as mainstream parties seek to impede the far right and nationalist parties’ hunt for votes in rural areas.

Farmers again blockaded streets surrounding the European Union headquarters in Brussels last week, spraying manure to protest low incomes, cheap food imports and burdensome red tape. As they did so, the bloc’s farming ministers backed a new set of changes to weaken green rules linked to the disbursement of tens of billions of euros in farming subsidies.

When the last European elections were held in 2019, the Greens made strong gains and climate activist Greta Thunberg was voted Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.

“The elections in 2024 will be elections in the year of angry farmers,” said Franc Bogovic, a Slovenian lawmaker in the European Parliament and himself a farmer.

The scramble to placate farmers has impacted key pillars of EU policy, pressuring the bloc over its Green Deal and free trade accords.

EU environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius warned of a “disastrous” blow to the bloc’s credibility last week, when EU countries declined to approve a landmark law to safeguard nature, leaving it unclear if the policy will be passed.

Other green measures are hanging in the balance ahead of the election. EU countries asked Brussels last week to scale back and possibly delay a new anti-deforestation policy, which they said could harm local farmers.

In France, senators in March voted against ratification of an EU-Canada free trade deal, targeting a symbol of the EU’s willingness to open up markets and boost competition.

And while the EU has extended tariff-free access for Ukrainian food producers, it agreed last month to impose duties if imports exceed a certain level, in response to farmers’ protests.

Some farming groups acknowledge the response by policymakers to the protests is likely linked to June’s elections – but say the weakening of green rules is not what they want.

“Our demands (for fair prices) have not actually been met,” said Dutch farmer Leonardo van den Berg, a representative of farming association La Via Campesina.

Rural discontent

Farmers account for 4.2 per cent of the EU’s workforce and generate just 1.4 per cent of the bloc’s gross domestic product. However, their protests resonate in the countryside where discontent towards distant policymakers and questions of cultural identity run deep.

A report commissioned by the EU’s Committee of the Regions, published last month, found Eurosceptic voting was high in many rural areas, where concerns including over migration and lower economic opportunities boosted populist parties.

An Elabe survey in January showed 87 per cent of French people supported the farmers’ cause. In Poland, nearly eight in every 10 people backed the farmers’ demands, according to a poll by the Institute of Market and Social Research.

The far right in France and elsewhere paint the farmers’ protests as symptomatic of a disconnect between an urban elite and hard-up countryside folk. Farmers are a small group, but the far right thinks it can attract a much wider rural vote by extension, said Teneo analyst Antonio Barroso.

Far-right parties are jostling to be the standard-bearers of farmers’ discontent, using them to illustrate the perceived failure of what they consider elitist green policies, said Simone Tagliapietra, senior fellow at think-tank Bruegel.

“This is pushing mainstream political parties to recalibrate their own agendas,” Tagliapietra said.

In France, farmers are a growing constituency for Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National) party. She has called for a halt to EU free trade deals.

Asked why farmers were proving so effective in influencing policymaking, agriculture ministers in Brussels last week described farmers as lynchpins of the rural economy.

“Everybody needs to eat everyday,” Finland’s minister Sari Essayah said. “(Farming) is one of those basic sectors we should support.”

Irish Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue said Europe needed to learn from the upheaval to food supply chains inflicted by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“We cannot take food security for granted,” he said.

Environmental campaigners warn of the pace at which environmental policies are being loosened for what they say is political expediency.

Changes to weaken environmental criteria linked to the disbursement of subsidies under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) had taken place at lightning speed without proper consultation, Greenpeace said.

“What they are now presenting as a set of simplification adjustments is literally a CAP reform worked out in a week,” said Marco Contiero, the group’s EU agriculture policy director, somewhat exaggerating what were still speedy proposals.

“This is a political, an electoral card being played,” he said.

A Commission spokesperson said the proposals to amend the CAP were “carefully calibrated, and targeted to maintain a high level of environment and climate ambition”.

The Commission consulted four EU-level farming associations and EU member states before proposing the measures to reduce bureaucracy for farmers, the spokesperson said.

—Additional reporting for Reuters by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels and Sybille de la Hamaide in Paris

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Polish farmers have been among those that have staged weeks of protest across the European Union, to press a series of demands, including removing restrictions placed on them by the EU’s Green Deal plan to tackle climate change as they say they cannot afford them.

Poland’s farmers have a particular grievance because of increased competition from Ukraine’s farmers, who they say have flooded the EU with cheap imports that leave them unable to compete.

“I planned this meeting with you in such a way that it was to be held simultaneously with the publication… of the European Commission’s proposal regarding changes to the act in the Common Agricultural Policy, but this publication will be delayed,” EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski told reporters on the visit to his native Poland.

He said publication had been held up by a dispute over the timing of some changes, but that there should be an announcement in a matter of hours rather than days.

Wojciechowski has faced calls to quit from all sides of the political spectrum in Poland, with farmers blaming him for the policies they oppose.

The European Commission is especially anxious to quell opposition from farmers ahead of European Parliament elections in June in which the far right, for whom farmers represent a growing constituency, is seen making gains.

Wojciechowski said the proposals would replace an obligation to rotate crops for farms between 10 and 30 hectares (24.7 and 74.1 acres) with a different scheme. Member states would also be able to exclude farms of up to 10 hectares from environmental inspections.

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The EU has already watered down some environmental policies in response to the sometimes violent protests, but with farmers still taking to the streets this week in Belgium and France, Brussels is under pressure to do more.

Draft conclusions for an EU summit on 21-22 March, seen by Reuters, showed EU country leaders plan to ask the European Commission to work without delay on “all possible short-term measures, including those to reduce the administrative burden and achieve simplification for farmers”.

The EU should also take action to strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain, and ensure they can earn a fair income, the draft said.

Having already withdrawn a law to reduce pesticides and weakened some nature protection measures, the EU is looking at new proposals to ease pressures on European farmers, including a reduction in farm inspections and the possibility of exempting small farms from some environmental standards.

The crisis in the sector comes as Europe faces increasingly dire warnings from scientists about the environmental damage industrial farming is causing, and the urgent need to protect nature in the face of worsening climate change.

The EU Environment Agency this week said current EU food policies are failing to address climate change risks.

It suggested Europe consider policies to encourage less livestock farming, since shifting to plant-based proteins could help farmers reduce their reliance on imported animal feed and use less water, which climate change is making an increasingly scarce resource in drought-stricken southern Europe.

Angry farmers have staged protests from Poland, to Germany, to France and Slovenia in recent months to draw attention to numerous complaints, including cheap supermarket prices, low-cost imports from outside of Europe, and EU green policies some say are excessive.

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His comments, to be published on Saturday, come after weeks of angry protests by farmers across Europe, who have taken to the streets to decry red tape, green regulations and high costs.

“I propose today that we change our position on some of the cross-compliance rules which tend to limit agricultural production,” Wojciechowski said in an interview with the group that owns nine regional titles across France, including L’Est Republicain and Le Progres.

He specifically referred to rules regarding the conversion of arable land into permanent grassland, the ban on bare soil during sensitive periods, crop rotation, and fallowing, which he said farmers should no longer be obliged to follow to receive CAP funding.

He said the rules “create a risk for EU food security”.

Wojciechowski also said he would favour an EU-wide price law, similar to France’s Egalim law, designed to guarantee fair prices to farmers.

“It will be necessary to include in this law the principle that it is prohibited to pay farmers a price lower than the cost of production,” he said.

In France, farmers were back on the streets of Paris on Friday, warning President Emmanuel Macron that he should expect a difficult welcome when he opens a major farm show on Saturday.

There have also been protests in Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the Czech Republic.

–Reporting for Reuters by Charlotte Van Campenhout.

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Europe’s climate agenda is entering a difficult phase as it begins to touch sensitive sectors, such as farming, and as traditional industries face fierce green tech competition from China.

While the overall target was within the range recommended by the EU’s official climate science advisers, the EU executive weakened part of the recommendation concerning agriculture, in response to weeks of protests by farmers angry about EU green rules, among other complaints.

A previous draft of the EU target, seen by Reuters, had said agriculture would need to cut non-CO2 emissions 30 per cent by 2040 from 2015 levels to comply with the overall climate goal. That was removed from the final draft.

“We need to make sure we have a balanced approach,” European Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told the European Parliament, as he unveiled the proposal. “The vast majority of our citizens sees the effects of climate change, does want protection, but is also worried about what that implies for their livelihood.”

Tuesday’s proposal will kick off political debate on the target, but it will be up to a new EU Commission and Parliament, formed after European Parliament elections in June, to pass the final target.

Polls show the June election could deliver a major shift to the right in the EU Parliament, which could make passing ambitious climate policies harder.

EU election

The apparent concession to farmers did not satisfy many right-wing members of the EU’s parliament who said the Commission’s green targets would constrain lifestyles and the economy.

“The farmers are revolting in Europe and the European Commission is coming with further unrealistic ambitions,” said Alexandr Vondra, from the eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists Group, criticizing what he called a drive to “force people to have a different lifestyle.”

Sylvia Limmer, an MEP from Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) criticized EU leaders for being “stupidly happy” about cutting CO2 emissions, adding that green policies were responsible for what she called a major economic meltdown.

On the other side, Left Group MEP Silvia Mordig said agriculture also needed to make an effort. “Don’t make the … mistake of not talking about agriculture, it does not solve the problem,” Green MEP Bas Eickhout said.

Energy mix

In its proposal, the Commission said the EU should set an economy-wide 2040 target for 90 per cent net greenhouse gas cuts compared with 1990 levels.

The EU plan focused on building an edge in European clean-tech industries, and maintaining public support for climate policy as the EU heads into the elections.

The aim is to keep European Union countries on track between the EU’s existing 2030 climate goal and its long-term aim of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

The 2040 target would transform Europe’s energy mix, with coal-fueled power phased out and overall fossil fuel use reduced by 80 per cent and replaced with renewable and nuclear power.

The draft also laid out the cost of failing to tackle climate change, in the form of more destructive extreme weather which could mean additional costs of 2.4 trillion euros in the EU by 2050 if global warming is not limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The EU reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent in 2022, from 1990 levels.

A second EU document, also published on Tuesday, outlined plans to capture and store hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 emissions by 2050 – one of many areas requiring huge investment in new technologies.

-Reporting for Reuters by Kate Abnett and Ingrid Melander.

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Farmers organizing the protest told Reuters they planned to bar access to the North Sea port, the country’s second-largest, for at least 36 hours. They said the port was targeted because they feel it receives economic support at the expense of farmers.

A port authority spokesman said protesters had blocked five roads to trucks, but were letting cars through. He said it was not yet clear what the consequences on the operations of the port would be, and the port was indirectly in touch with the organizers through the police.

The Algemeen Boerensyndicaat (ABS, General Farmers Syndicate) union has called on its members to join the protest.

“The farmers are desperate, really desperate. We’ve warned the government for years that this would happen,” ABS policy officer Mark Wulfrancke said.

Wulfrancke urged policymakers to ensure the price of food reflects the additional costs European farmers face to comply with Europe’s rising environmental standards.

“We want respect from our government, the European government. The only way to show that respect is to make a policy that is farmer friendly, food friendly. We need a correct price,” he told Reuters.

The Belgian protest movement has been boosted by similar action in France, where farmers have set up dozens of roadblocks and disrupted traffic around Paris, putting the government under pressure.

Belgian farmers also disrupted traffic during the morning rush hour on Tuesday. One of the blockades was close to the Dutch border on the E19 highway, media said.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo is set to meet with farmers’ associations on Tuesday.

“It is important that they are listened to,” De Croo told reporters, referring to the challenges farmers face.

He said Belgium, which currently holds the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, will discuss a number of European agricultural rules with the European Commission.

A group of farmers blocking a square in central Brussels with tractors said they would stay put until at least Thursday, when EU government leaders meet in the city.

“We are asking them to review their laws,” said Nicolas Fryers, a farmer at the protest. “They talk about being greener but if that happens then there will be land which isn’t worked any more and it’s difficult enough as it is.”

The European Commission appeared poised to offer some policy changes in response, by proposing an exemption on Thursday on rules requiring farmers to leave part of their land fallow if they apply for EU subsidies.

The rules on fallow land were part of the grievances that led to protests in France and elsewhere in recent weeks.

Spanish farmers plan protest

Spanish farmers’ associations said on Tuesday they were planning to take to the streets in February in protest against strict European regulations and lack of government support.

“Mobilizations will take place as soon as possible,” Pedro Barato, president of Asaja, a Spanish association representing around 200,000 farmers and cattle breeders, said in a radio interview. “The actions will not be very different from what is happening in other EU countries.”

The protests are set to take place in the coming weeks, the organizations said in a joint statement. Asaja members are due to meet on Feb. 1 to make preparations.

Drought in southern Spain has hit farmers, with production of several crops such as rice and olives dropping over the past two years.

The largest farmers’ groups in Spain – Asaja, COAG and UPA – also share the same as grievances as their peers in other European countries, claiming environmental regulations imposed by Brussels are undermining the profitability of crops and increasing food prices.

Spanish farmers said they were also struggling to compete with products imported from outside the EU at lower prices.

As the French protests have intensified, some 20,000 Spanish trucks that cross the border every day have struggled to transport fruit, vegetables and other goods. Spanish transport association, Fenadismer, estimates the blockades cause daily losses of 10 million euros (CAD $14.6 million) for Spanish companies.

Among other demands, the Spanish organizations plan to ask Brussels to halt negotiations with the Mercosur trade bloc, as well as trade agreements with Chile, Kenya, Mexico, India and Australia.

“It is time for them (European and national authorities) to take note, rectify and reform their strategies,” Asaja said.

–Reporting for Reuters by Corina Pons, Emma Pinedo, Tassilo Hummel, Geert De Clercq and Kate Abnett.

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Here are some of the issues that have prompted the growing protest movement and how the government could respond.

Why are farmers protesting?

Farmers in France, the EU’s biggest agricultural producer, say they are not being paid enough and choked by excessive regulation on environmental protection.

Some of their concerns, like competition from cheaper imports and environmental rules, are shared by producers in the rest of the EU, while others such as food price negotiations are more specific to France.

Costs

Financially, farmers argue that a push by the government and retailers to bring down food inflation has left many producers unable to cover high costs for energy, fertilizer and transport.

A government plan to phase out a tax break for farmers on diesel fuel, as part of a wider energy transition policy, has also been a flashpoint, in an echo of tensions in Germany.

Imports

Large imports from Ukraine, for which the EU has waived quotas and duties since Russia’s invasion, and renewed negotiations to conclude a trade deal between the EU and South American bloc Mercosur, have fanned discontent about unfair competition in sugar, grain and meat.

Large imports are resented for pressuring European prices while not meeting environmental standards imposed on EU farmers.

Environment, red tape

On the environment, farmers take issue both with EU subsidy rules, such as an incoming requirement to leave 4 per cent of farmland fallow, and what they see as France’s overcomplicated implementation of EU policy, such as in restoring hedges and arable land as natural habitat.

Green policies are seen as contradicting goals to become more self-sufficient in production of food and other essential goods in the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Rows over irrigation projects, as water resources become a focus in climate debate, and criticism about animal welfare and pollution in agriculture have heightened feelings among an ageing French farmer population as being disregarded by society.

What measures could the government take?

The government, under pressure to defuse the crisis ahead of European elections in June and the annual Paris farm show next month, has postponed draft legislation on attracting more recruits to farming to add other measures.

The government has promised to simplify procedures for farmers. That could mean reduced waiting times for subsidy payments or farm project approvals, or easing paperwork and audits on environmental compliance.

The government could drop its plan to phase out the diesel tax break, though it has already softened the measure by staggering the move over several years and offering to re-invest the funds in farming.

Some changes would need EU approval, such as changing the rule on fallow land, and farmers warn any concessions may come too late for this year’s production plans.

As in previous farming crises, the government could offer emergency aid. It has already pledged funds for wine producers hit by falling consumption and farmers affected by floods in the north and a cattle disease in the south, but may announce more money and quicker payouts.

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