Farmers to EU: Fix Food Prices or We Face Ruin
Farmers set fire to tire piles in Brussels on Monday, February 26, 2024, during a protest to demand that the European Union take action on issues ranging from low supermarket prices to free trade deals, Reuters has reported.
Agriculture ministers met to discuss the crisis in the sector as police used water cannons to extinguish the flames.
Over 100 tractors were parked around the headquarters of the European Union institutions, blocking parts of Brussels, a short distance from the isolated area where the ministers were meeting.
Farmers across Europe have staged weeks of escalating protests, calling on politicians to address what they call a crisis in the agricultural sector. Farmers cite unsustainable supermarket prices, unfair trade deals undercutting local producers, and strict EU environmental rules as key issues threatening their livelihoods.
Local grievances vary. But Morgan Ody, the general coordinator of the farming organisation La Via Campesina, said that for most farmers, "it's about making a living."
"It's about being poor and wanting to make a decent living," Ody said.
The agriculture ministers were due to discuss a new set of EU proposals to reduce pressure on farmers, including a reduction in agricultural inspections and the possibility of exempting small farms from certain environmental standards.
"Farmers need to be paid for what they do... There are aspects of the Green Deal demanded from farmers that are not remunerated. That is the heart of the problem," Belgian Agriculture Minister David Clarinval said on arrival at the meeting, referring to the EU's environmental requirements.
In response to weeks of protests from angry farmers, the EU has already weakened some parts of its flagship Green Deal environmental policies, removing a target to reduce agricultural emissions from the 2040 climate roadmap.
The EU has also withdrawn a law aimed at reducing pesticides and delayed a target for farmers to leave some land uncultivated to improve biodiversity.
Farmers' demands also include a halt to free trade deals, which they say have led to cheaper imports from countries where producers face less stringent environmental standards than those in the EU.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
