Despite concessions from the EU: farmers are venting their anger – and crap – in Brussels

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Tractors block streets in Brussels' European Quarter: "Those who do this here are harming the concerns of farmers"

Photo: Philip Reynaers / Photo News / IMAGO

There have been massive protests by farmers against the EU's agricultural policy in Brussels. Farmers set fire to hay bales and car tires in the European Quarter and dumped manure onto the streets, the AFP news agency reported. In the morning, the EU states had already temporarily approved significant relaxations of environmental regulations and exceptions for small farms in an expedited procedure. Meanwhile, Germany reported environmental concerns.

According to police, around 250 tractors blocked the streets in Brussels' European district and important entrance roads into the city. The Belgian police warned of “extremely dangerous traffic situations” on the motorways. In the European Quarter, the tractors rolled towards the police barricades on Tuesday afternoon. The police responded with tear gas and water cannons.

“Those who do this here are damaging the concerns of farmers,” said Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) in response to the protests in Brussels. He referred to the largest European farmers' association, Copa-Cogeca, which recently welcomed the EU Commission's proposals.

EU adopts looser environmental rules

The majority of representatives of the EU states had previously spoken out in favor of allowing more relaxed environmental regulations for farmers. In a special committee for agriculture, a majority of member states supported corresponding proposals from the European Commission, as the EU states announced. This addresses the concerns of farmers.

The stated aim of the project is to reduce the administrative burden on farmers and to give them more flexibility in complying with certain environmental regulations. The Commission announced the proposals to change the EU's agricultural policy in the middle of the month. They should be brought through in an expedited procedure. If there is a majority in the European Parliament in April, the changes could come into force at the end of spring.

The chairman of the EU Parliament's Agriculture Committee, Norbert Lins (CDU), welcomed the planned changes. He expects the adjustments to be approved quickly and without changes in Parliament. When the current rules for EU agricultural policy were originally negotiated, it was a years-long process within the EU institutions.

The Commission's proposals include, among other things, standards that are intended to ensure the good agricultural and ecological condition of soils. In principle, farmers have to adhere to this in order to benefit from the EU agricultural subsidies worth billions. This involves, for example, the requirements for fallow land and crop rotations, which are intended to ensure that soils are not unduly affected by agricultural use.

So far, for example, farmers have been obliged to leave part of their arable land fallow or to use it unproductively. The Commission has now proposed that this should only be made voluntary. The member states should in turn reward farmers who leave land fallow despite relaxing the regulations.

From the perspective of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the proposed changes reduce the environmental protection ambitions of the common EU agricultural policy. The ministry said in a statement that they wanted to push for adjustments. Reducing bureaucracy should not mean that environmental protection suffers, said Özdemir. "What we think we've lost today has to be rebuilt all the more laboriously."

Baden-Württemberg's Agriculture Minister Peter Hauk demanded that the federal government implement the Commission's proposals one-to-one. “Farmers finally need a longer-term perspective in order to be able to overcome current and future challenges,” said the CDU politician.

eru/dpa/AFP