Administrative red tape in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), unfair competition from low-cost countries, low wages... In January and February, farmers in France's neighboring countries were also angered by the structural challenges the sector is facing. This culminated in a column of hundreds of tractors from France, Italy, Spain and Portugal passing in front of the European institutions in Brussels.
While the industry's problems are far from over, protests have subsided in some member states. In Germany, farmers remain in limbo, still awaiting support as the country grapples with political chaos following the explosion of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition on Wednesday, November 6.
In Spain, anger has largely subsided since the approval, between April and June, of a series of measures aimed at easing the administrative procedures and standards required to receive CAP aid as well as tax cuts and assistance to cope with drought and the rise in farm diesel prices. On October 8, the Union of Small Farmers and Stockbreeders declared that "the main demand that brought thousands of farmers out into the streets has been met." In any case, the priority now facing farmers' associations is the damage caused by the terrible floods that hit the province of Valencia at the end of October and the loss of human life, infrastructure and agricultural production.
In the Netherlands, organizations in the sector are cautiously taking stock of their recent action, but have achieved one very symbolic decision: in July, Femke Wiersma, a member of the Farmer-Citizen Movement, the agrarian party that burst onto the political scene in 2023, was appointed minister of agriculture. The party's primary goal is appeasing a sector that rebelled against the plans of the previous coalition led by the liberal Mark Rutte. In particular, the "Nitrogen Plan" aimed at drastically reducing emissions from the sector, with a reduction in the number of farms and livestock, has been buried. Environmental programs are to be "reorganized" and the plan to reduce the country's overall emissions by 55% by 2030 – which obviously includes the highly intensive agricultural sector – has been called into question.
In Belgium, the main farmers' federations are planning new action against the European Union-MERCOSUR free trade agreement, which the European Commission hopes to conclude before the end of the year, and which is also being contested by their French and Austrian colleagues. "We're not opposed to free trade, but meat imports from the five countries concerned [Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia] make no sense. We must therefore at least limit the consequences of this project, particularly by imposing mirror clauses. In other words, subjecting producers in the countries concerned to the same rules as those imposed on us," said Laurent Gomand, acting head of the Walloon Federation of Agriculture.
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