Will new EU proposal end farmer protests?
20th March 2024
There may be an end to farmer protests around Europe following the latest EU proposals set out for discussion on 26th March.
The European Commission spoke about easing a series of rules on leaving land fallow or rotating crops, offering concessions to farmers who have been demonstrating on the streets over the past few months.
The proposals have been sent to the 27 EU member governments and the European Parliament to reflect on how to improve the position of farmers in the food supply chain.
A European Commission executive said the list of possible actions would be discussed by national agriculture ministers, who are next due to gather in Brussels on 26th March.
Protests across Europe
Polish farmers have been among those protesting across the EU, demanding, among others, the removal of restrictions placed on them by the EU’s green deal plan to tackle climate change. Farmers said they simply cannot afford them.
On Sunday 17th March, thousands of Spanish farmers protested in Madrid over the European Union’s agricultural politics. They claim that the proposed policies aimed at protecting the environment make their produce uncompetitive compared to imports from outside of the EU.
New proposals
The new proposals issued by the European Commission would concentrate on offering farmers more flexibility in heeding mainly environmental rules, such as protecting peat land, limiting water pollution and soil erosion, while continuing to benefit from EU agriculture fund payments.
This means that farmers will be able to get more financial support for keeping a share of their land non-productive, such as with hedges or trees, to improve biodiversity.
They could carry out crop diversification, rather than crop rotation. Certain crop types could also be exempt from rules on tillage, soil cover or rotation.
In addition, exemptions could be granted in cases of adverse weather, while small farms of below 10 hectares would not have to be subject to controls or penalties.
READ MORE: General election: call for new government to source more food from British farms
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