In many parts of Europe there are farmers’ protests, during which demonstrators block traffic with tractors. The most blocked traffic is in France, where the capital Paris is also expected to be blocked, and tractors are also circulating in Belgium, Poland and Lithuania.
In France, protesting farmers blocked one of the country’s major highways, as well as a number of smaller roads. Farmers drive slowly along the roads with tractors and do not let anyone pass or pass. Entrances to several cities were also blocked, including Strasbourg.
The farmers also plan to block all entrances to the capital Paris and mass tractors in central Paris.
Farmers are particularly concerned about the reduction in excise duty on tractor fuel, as well as other aspects of French agricultural policy, such as rationing and constant restrictions and growing bureaucracy.
“Currently, new rules continue to accumulate and we can no longer react. These rules also represent a great economic and administrative burden. The time has come to demonstrate how tired we are of all this,” explained Pierre-Marie Henry, the owner of a French poultry farm.
According to Belgian farmers who visited the capital Brussels, their country’s agricultural policy is as corrupt as that of neighboring France. However, the blame lies not only with politicians, but also with large companies producing outside Europe, whose activities are harmful to both European farmers and consumers.
“If you look at the balance sheet of these giant corporations that are putting pressure on the food industry, it’s astronomically large, and I think at some point the consumer spending basket will start to get smaller and smaller. Farmers see that their profits are decreasing and decrease, but the revenues of large companies continue to increase more and more,” said Aurelien Holvoet, a farmer from Lanquesaint, Belgium.
In Eastern Europe there have never been peasant protests comparable to those in the West, but now things are different there too. Polish farmers are annoyed by cheap imports, which hit them especially hard after a year with a poor harvest. Poland is particularly concerned about cheap grain arriving from its war-torn neighbor Ukraine.
“We have always sat in the furrows and watched what farmers in other countries like France and Germany do. This year, however, our harvests remained limited, so we decided to do something now,” said Polish farmer Krzysztof Waldemar Kaszuba.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after the protests that farmers’ concerns would be listened to and a dialogue would be initiated with them.
2024-01-25 16:45:00
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