AVN WEB DESK
Farmers staged protests across Europe, in various locations, including border blockades between Poland and Germany, clashes with law enforcement agencies in Brussels, and demonstrations in Madrid to decry the impact of low supermarket prices and unfair competition, particularly from Ukraine, demanding governmental intervention to address their concerns.
In Brussels, European Union agricultural ministers held a meeting amidst weeks of protests in the sector. The EU has responded to the mounting pressure by making concessions, such as amending certain parts of its Green Deal environmental policies, notably by removing emission reduction targets from its 2040 climate roadmap.
Morgan Ody, general coordinator of the farming organization La Via Campesina, expressed farmers’ frustration with what they perceive as the EU’s indifference to their plight. Ody stressed the urgent need for fair compensation, attributing farmers’ hardships to free trade agreements, deregulation, and prices that fail to cover production costs.
Protests erupted on the fringes of the Brussels meeting, leading to confrontations with riot police who employed water cannons against demonstrators. Meanwhile, in Madrid, Spanish farmers demanded reduced bureaucracy and revisions to the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), citing excessive administrative burdens.
In Poland, farmers staged a highway blockade at a border crossing with Germany, symbolizing solidarity against imports from Ukraine. Adrian Wawrzyniak, spokesperson for the Solidarity farmers’ union, emphasized the united stance of Polish and German farmers in preventing Ukrainian goods from flooding the European market.
In Warsaw, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda stressed the necessity for EU-level solutions to address farmers’ grievances. They highlighted Poland’s particular vulnerability due to its proximity to Ukraine but emphasized the need for a collective EU response.
The discontent among farmers stems partly from the EU’s decision in 2022 to waive duties on Ukrainian food exports amid the conflict with Russia. As EU agriculture ministers convene to explore potential solutions, proposals include streamlining farm inspections and providing exemptions for small farms from certain environmental standards to ease the burden on them.
