EU’s farm tractor drivers force EU Commission to engage full reverse gear

Farmers across the EU have taken to the streets in recent months – and have won

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2024

The EU Commission’s “environment and climate” conditions have been ploughed up

On Friday (15 Mar 2024) Ursula von der Leyen’s EU Commission was forced into a humiliating climbdown over its onerous restrictions on farmers. Faced with these farmers blocking arterial roads into cities across Europe in protest, the Commission has had to take a scythe to its flagship “environment and climate” policies.

None of these policies were ever agreed to or voted upon by EU citizens as part of a manifesto – they were simply imposed by the autocrats in Brussels. Now the Commission has been forced to engage reverse gear as a result of mass action on the streets. As yet it is uncertain whether the Commission has done enough to satisfy the continent’s farmers, as protests still continue in some places.

The number of farming days lost as a consequence of the Commission’s actions will be substantial and it is not yet clear what impact this may have on the food chain in Europe.

Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission went into full ‘Newspeak’ propaganda mode

Before we explain the roots of this conflict, in Facts4EU.Org’s time-honoured tradition we present readers with a layman’s guide to the Commission’s announcements on Friday. (Who can forget our iconic “Cameronish-English Dictionary” back in 2016? - Here and here.)

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

How to speak von der Leyenish

Below is our “Von der Leyenish-English Dictionary” - we hope readers find this useful

“Conditionalities” – our rules vich must be obeyed
“Review certain provisions of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)” – Plough up the whole thing
“Conditionality and CAP Strategic Plans” – Rules we had imposed according to our Green agenda
“Flexibility for complying with certain environmental conditionalities” – We now have to compost most rules
“Hundreds of requests received from farmers' organisations” – Everyone hated our plans
“The [new] proposal strikes the right balance” – We’ve caved in
“Carefully calibrated and targeted” – It took us weeks to come up with something where we didn’t look like idiots
“Package of support for EU farmers” – A pretence of care for those who produce food for citizens
“Agricultural policy adapts to changing realities” – Ja, we really messed up
“Good agricultural and environmental conditions” - Farming is bad for climate change
“Targeted review of certain conditionalities” – We’ve had to tear up our rules
“Rotate or diversify their crops” – Something no-one really understood
“Soil cover during sensitive periods” – Ditto
“Targeted exemptions” – Whatever we have to do to save face and stop the riots
“Temporary derogations” – Pressing the pause button until after we get re-appointed
“Exempt small farms of under 10 hectares from controls” – We were idiots
“Reinforcing the position of farmers in the food supply chain” – Doing nothing useful
“Strengthening producer organisations” – Do what the big landowner lobbyists say
“Timely and concrete actions responding to farmers' concerns” – They’re idiots but we have no choice

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said:

“The Commission is taking strong and swift action to support our farmers in a time when they are dealing with numerous challenges and concerns. Today's proposals - crafted in close cooperation with farmers, key stakeholders, our Member States and MEPs – offer targeted flexibilities to help farmers do their vital work with greater confidence and certainty. We are sending a clear message that agricultural policy adapts to changing realities while staying focused on the key priority of protecting the environment and adapting to climate change. The Commission will continue to stand steadfastly by our farmers, who maintain EU food security and serve at the frontline of our climate and environment action.”
- EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, 15 Mar 2024

Why the EU’s farmers have been in revolt

As with all EU Commission regulations, the new ones regarding farming are complex. In broad terms Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission has been imposing ever more restrictive conditions on the farming community, in line with Brussels’ climate change and environmental agenda.

In some EU countries such as the Netherlands individual governments went even further, requiring farmers to make large parts of their land lie fallow and reducing the number of animals they can have. All of this has been in the name of climate change. It was therefore no surprise that the right wing Geert Wilders won the election in the Netherlands, although there now seems little likelihood of him being able to form a government. The other parties have lined up against him.

The rules are quite extraordinary in their scope. These started to become far worse in 2013 with a new EU Regulation. Despite ‘derogations’ by the EU Commission, farmers everywhere have been suffering.

Observations

Heaven help farmers across the EU, struggling to cope with all the new regulations from Brussels mandarins on how to run their farms – and now a new set of rules in response to mass protests on the streets and motorways across the EU.

Whether the new set of rules – when farmers have the time to decipher them – will solve the crisis in Europe remains to be seen.

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[ Sources: EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Wed 20 Mar 2024

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Reader Comments 12

1. Sparky , Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 07:25:

Still campaigning to leave the EU.
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You may have missed protests by UK farmers who say they are planning to mount more blockades over cheap post-Brexit imports.
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Interesting reading in Bloomberg, piece titled “Matthew Winkler, editor in chief emeritus at Bloomberg News, says that by almost every economic and financial measure, Brexit “has been disastrous for the UK.” “The EU economy is growing 2.3 percentage points faster than the UK’s on an annual basis, with GDP rising 24% since 2016, compared with the 6% for the UK”

2. Old Albion , Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 07:36:

'Sparky' still spouting 'project fear'

3. Have You Wondered , Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 10:08:

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A confusing picture as the EU was trying to negotiate the (failed) Mercosur trade agreement that envisaged beef imports to the EU contra to the European and Irish farmers.
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And then, look up headlines: "dutch supermarket decides to stop meat promotions" and "eat insects new eu rules menu"
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Then you have Ireland "Ireland gambles on China’s big tech billions ". Is that to replace beef farming or a vulnerable income source?
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CAP at around 25% of the EU budget.....Would it be better to scrap CAP and for the EU citizens to pay the market price, rather than higher taxes to pay for CAP less the bureaucracy and alleged fraud?
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Odd logic? What a twisted mess?
.

4. NH , Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 10:46:

1. Sparky, "Interesting reading in Bloomberg"
You love quoting remainer organisations. This article might feed the remainers but to anybody with a modest knowledge it's a bit silly.
.
He doesn't seem to understand that the UK did not leave the EU in 2016. Obviously after the period after the referendum there would be a period of uncertainty, which would effect our performance, but our trading terms with the EU did not change until the beginning of of 2021.
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He doesn't seem to understand that the UK stock market is not composed of UK companies. They are mostly global companies and approximately 80% or their revenue comes from outside the UK. To use this factor to judge the UK economy is very strange.
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He seems to believe that the object of the BOE is to increase the value of the UK pound over other currencies, this is not the case, if they did it would be very destructive..
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He seems to believe economic growth in the EU is higher than the UK and unemployment is lower. Maybe he hasn't seen any recent figures.
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He hasn't compared EU growth and productivity increases with any other region in the world. I wonder why ?

5. NH , Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 11:13:

I have some sympathy with EU farmers as the Green Deal is pushing their costs up to unrealistic levels. The other problem is the EU is suck between a rock and a hard place. The German Car manufacturers are getting increasingly angry about the lack of trade deals. Protectionism will not save their export markets and the present tariffs will allow China to take over their export markets. It's basically a CARS V COWS War. It's the same old problem of trying to have a single trade policy that will suit so many diverse markets in a changing world.

6. Sparky , Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 15:04:

City A.M. today "Amsterdam maintains post-Brexit status as Europe’s share trading hub". "Amsterdam has been the busiest centre for share trading in Europe since July 2021, when the UK’s departure from the EU meant €6.5bn worth of deals went to the EU at the end of the transition period. Since January last year, nearly 100 firms have left the capital’s embattled bourse, while just 25 have floated".
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Of course its not as bad as "project fear" so it must be a win.

7. John Jones , Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 15:39:

Probably worth injecting a degree of realism here in the Commission's proposals.
I was in France late January/early February & saw for myself the trouble the farmers caused on key motorway routes - the area of mid France near Limoges was quite severely affected. Towards the end of my 10 day stay, the local supermarket shelves whilst not empty, looked a little less healthy at the start of my visit.
Interestingly, I met via my friends a couple of really articulate french farmers - who luckily ( for me) spoke enough English to be able to give their interpretation of what was going on at an EU level and national French level.
It really is as bad as you've reported - France was compounding the problem by introducing reductions on diesel subsides that all small farmers relied on.
The guys I talked to were very cynical of the European Commission - they do not believe for one minute that the Commission will keep its word - it's only a question of time, likely after the euro elections, that the directives/regulations will be reborn possibly in a slightly different guise.
Essentially, the Commission never ever gives way on its regulatory integrative mission. J Claude Juncker that inebriated incontinent old President of the Commission once said that the EU never gives back to member states that which they've taken - ie competencies. It is the only way the EU 'bike' stays upright.
France ( Macron) and his new boy PM immediately acquiesced to the French farmers - it was nation states of France/Germany& Belgium who put pressure on the Commission to back down - let's see what happens after the elections - this isn't over yet by a long way.

8. Adam Hiley , Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 16:27:

Remoaners We don't want to rejoin the EU not now not ever us Brexiteers need to ensure that Keir Starmer's rabble never be allowed into Government as much as I dislike the Sunak administration who looks like He may be gone sooner than expected

9. Adam Hiley , Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 16:29:

Sparky no one cares what Bloomberg thinks about Brexit or Britain it can run off back to the USA if it doesn't like our Country

10. NH , Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 18:34:

6. Sparky, "Amsterdam maintains post-Brexit status as Europe’s share trading hub"
As usual you are a bit out of date. The London Stock Exchange as a company is valued at approximately 6 times that of the Amsterdam Euronext NV. Only 3% of it's revenues come from stock trading. It's a much more sophisticated company now which is why Microsoft has bought a significant stake in the company.
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It's true that the London stock exchange faces problems in retaining companies and attracting new companies but the main attraction for these companies is the USA not Europe and many UK companies are choosing to delist and go private. Companies are complaining about "Green Reporting" and criticism of executive pay. Unfortunately companies will always be attracted to markets which do not force them to reveal too much information. Sorry to disappoint you but Brexit is not the problem !

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