FEATURE reported , after the commission proposed to delay rules for farmers to “ set aside land to encourage biodiversity and soil health ”.
This will offer “ additional flexibility to farmers at a time when they are dealing with multiple challenges ”, commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement .
Farmers in Belgium and France are also concerned about competition from trade deals between the EU and other countries .
This includes the EU-Mercosur trade deal , which intends to boost trade between the EU and Argentina , Brazil , Paraguay and Uruguay . Many EU farmers believe that it will lead to unfair competition .
Figure 4 . Protesting farmers blocked the A10 motorway with tractors during a protest near Farmers protested outside the European parliament building in Brussels , Belgium on 1 February 2024 . Credit : ANP / Alamy Stock Photo
Most negotiations were finalised for the deal in 2019 , but the final talks were paused “ due to the positions of [ former ] Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on deforestation ”, Euractiv reported . ( An edition of Carbon Brief ’ s Cropped newsletter covered this in more detail last year .)
Since Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took over office last year , the deal has gotten closer to completion despite continued opposition from countries including France and Ireland .
Talks are ongoing and the EU “ continues to fulfil its objective of achieving an agreement that respects our sustainability goals and respects our sensitivities , particularly in agriculture ”, a European commission spokesperson told Reuters last week .
Greece
Figure 5 . Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez ( right ) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the Moncloa palace in Madrid , Spain on 26 April 2023 . Credit : Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo
tails on the French protests .)
On 1 February , the country ’ s main farmer unions called for an end to the protests after “ securing promises of government assistance ” on issues around finance and regulations , according to Al Jazeera .
These included a government decision to suspend efforts to halve the use of pesticides by the end of this decade , the Daily Telegraph reported , which environmentalists described as a “ major step backwards ”. The newspaper said :
“ Studies indicate the population of farmland birds has fallen by 30 % in
France over the past 30 years , with pesticides blamed as the primary cause for their demise .”
Belgium
Belgian farmers blocked roads in and out of Brussels last week , the Brussels Times reported , before the city was taken over by a wider protest on 1 February . Hundreds of “ angry farmers ” gathered outside the European parliament building , starting fires and throwing eggs in protest against “ taxes , rising costs and cheap imports ”, Sky News said .
EU farmers “ won their first concession from Brussels ” last week , the Guardian
At the ongoing protests in Greece , farmers raised concerns about accessing more reimbursement for lost crops due to “ natural disasters and disease ”, eKathimerini reported . Greece was badly impacted by wildfires last summer .
The government has said it will help farmers with energy costs and promised a “ one-year extension of a tax rebate for agricultural diesel ”, Reuters reported .
Romania
Romanian farmers and truck drivers cited a number of different concerns , many of which related to climate change or biodiversity in different ways .
A major issue for Romanian farmers and other eastern European countries is controlling Ukrainian grain imports . Farmers in countries surrounding Ukraine have been arguing for months that they
07 Grassroots Vol 24 No 1 March 2024