Europe

Tractor protests besiege Europe, here's what farmers are demanding

Farmers also blocked roads in Italy, calling for a rethink of sustainability measures in the agri-food sector

30 January 2024

Davvero gli agricoltori italiani marceranno con i trattori su Roma?

2' min read

France, Germany, Romania, Belgium, Poland, and now Italy: these are some of the European countries where tens of thousands of farmers have packed up their tools and blocked the roads with their tractors. Already tried by the rising cost of living, farmers are protesting against measures designed to make the agri-food sector more sustainable, for example by imposing the suspension of activities to allow the land to rest.

France

French farmers have occupied with their tractors long stretches of motorway towards Paris, with the aim of blocking access to the capital. They claim that they are not paid enough and have to comply with excessive environmental protection regulations. Some of their concerns are shared by producers in the rest of the EU, such as the rising cost of agricultural diesel, delays in paying EU subsidies, competition from cheaper imports, and environmental regulations. Others are national, such as increased bureaucracy. The proposals made so far by the newly appointed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal have not been enough to quell the discontent.

Germany

The protests initially spread across Germany in December, with a mainly national character: farmers are angry about the phasing out of tax breaks on agricultural diesel in an attempt to balance the 2024 budget, a move they believe would bankrupt them. Earlier this year, Berlin almost came to a standstill when one of its central boulevards was blocked by trucks and tractors.

Davvero gli agricoltori italiani marceranno con i trattori su Roma?

Italy

Protests are also growing in Italy: on Tuesday, hundreds of farmers arrived from all over Lombardy in Melegnano, kicking off a garrison that will last five days and nights. Protests are also growing in Sardinia and Tuscany. Farmers are demanding more protection for the 'Made in Italy' label, and oppose the increase in the price of diesel.

The rest of Europe

For some European countries, the protests are nothing new: already in 2019, protests had spread in the Netherlands due to government demands to halve livestock production in order to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. In Brussels, Belgium, farmers often throw milk against walls or block roads with cattle. On Monday, traffic in the Belgian capital was disrupted by angry farmers. In Romania, Poland and Hungary farmers also started protests, frightened by cheap imports from Ukraine.

EU policies

Farmers' discontent is often due to EU policies: the agricultural sector has always looked askance at the EUR 55 billion measures introduced to revamp the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and make it more sustainable. The measures include the obligation to use at least 4 per cent of arable land for non-productive purposes, as well as the requirement to rotate crops and reduce fertiliser use by at least 20 per cent. But according to many farmers, these measures will only make the European agricultural sector less competitive against imports.

The role of the war in Ukraine

Among the reasons for the protests is the import of agricultural products, especially cereals, at lower prices from neighbouring Ukraine, which the farmers claim is ruining the domestic market. Indeed, farmers complain that producing some products in Ukraine, such as chicken, costs half as much as in some European countries, including France. According to the farmers, this is not a fair match: the average Ukrainian farm is about one thousand hectares; the European equivalent is only 41.