The protesting farmers denounce the climate change crisis, which has caused them great economic losses, rejecting the green policies approved by the European Union, saying that they are unfair, which raises concerns about the implementation of the Green Deal, in addition to other concerns related to food security.
The Green Deal aims to outline paths the European bloc can take to reduce emissions and bring about a “new industrial revolution.”
Brussels also identified the agricultural sector as a “core area” for climate action, calling on the sector to reduce emissions by at least 30 percent by 2040 compared to 2015 levels.
Agricultural activities, which account for 10 percent of the bloc's emissions, have been described as “one of the key areas for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union by 2040,” according to a report published by the British Financial Times.
Expansion of farmers' movement
- The farmers' uprising began in June 2022 in the Netherlands, which has a population of about 18 million and is the second largest exporter of food products after the United States.
- In recent months, discontent has spread to Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria, where producers denounce “unfair competition” from Ukraine, which is accused of lowering grain prices.
- In Germany, a large number of farmers confirmed their opposition to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government plan to increase taxes on agricultural diesel, which was announced in December. In early January, they launched a week of protests during which convoys of tractors blocked roads throughout the country.
- Anger also rose in the French countryside, where farmers and their German neighbors protested against rising production costs and increasing environmental obligations.
- In the United Kingdom, fruit and vegetable producers demonstrated outside Parliament in London to protest “unfair” purchasing contracts that require them to distribute on a large scale.
The report indicates that farmers in Europe constitute about 4 percent of the population working in the European Union, but their recent protests received a rapid and uncalculated reaction.
In separate statements to the “Eqtisad Sky News Arabia” website, specialists expected that the farmers' protests in Europe would have an impact on green plans in the old continent.
Repercussions of the protests
From London, energy economics expert, Nihad Ismail, said in exclusive statements to the “Eqtisad Sky News Arabia” website that protests broke out in most European Union countries with the aim of forcing member states to put farmers’ problems on the agenda of the European Commission and to discuss solutions to get out of the crises they are suffering from. Including the agricultural sector.
He added: “The burdens have accumulated on farmers in recent years,” enumerating the reasons for this as follows:
- The Corona pandemic crisis, and the price fluctuations it has caused.
- High cost of energy due to the war in Ukraine.
- Unfair competition to import cheap agricultural products from Eastern European countries such as Ukraine.
- Protest legislation to protect the climate and environment and achieve the goals of green transformation programs.
The energy economics expert pointed out that there is great discomfort among farmers with the European Union’s insistence on making amendments and reforms to the so-called common agricultural policy, which costs the Union 60 billion euros annually, according to which financial allocations are paid to support farmers, explaining that these reforms mean reducing financial support. And it will enter into force in 2027.
an agreement
The agricultural ministers of the European Union countries agreed in 2021 on the necessity of reforming the common agricultural policy of the European Union countries during the period from 2023 to 2027, with the aim of ratifying the agreement that stipulates spending 270 billion euros of federal budget funds on the European agricultural sector until 2027.
According to the agreement, penalties will be imposed starting in 2025 on farmers who do not respect the labor law and adhere to an environmentally friendly agricultural policy.
He stated that the protests achieved some successes, perhaps the most notable of which was easing some conditions related to climate change laws, canceling the clause related to stopping the use of pesticides, in addition to helping farmers pay their heavy debts.
- Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the withdrawal of the plan to reduce the use of pesticides because it had become a “symbol of polarization” following farmer protests across Europe.
- Proposed by the European Commission in June 2022, this text forms a key part of the European Green Deal, and sets binding targets to reduce the use of chemical phytosanitary products in the EU and halve their risks by 2030 compared to the period 2015-2017.
According to the British newspaper “Financial Times”, the concessions and privileges that farmers recently obtained will be short-term. Because the European Union is committed to reaching zero emissions by 2050 and is also committed to moving to a clean energy future and the green transition.
Ismail pointed out that the agricultural sector is responsible for 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, expecting European governments to face more protests in the agricultural sector in the coming years.
Discussions
Energy economics expert, Nihad Ismail, also expected talks to be held between the Commission and representatives of the agricultural sector, which is a vital and important sector for the European economy, and not to ignore this powerful lobby in exchange for the agricultural sector not obstructing the green economy transition programs, explaining that there is a package of measures that can be taken to end This crisis is in parallel with the implementation of the green transformation agenda, and among those measures are:
- Granting financial support to farmers on the condition that they accept reforms and cooperation in the areas of environmental and climate protection.
- Imposing customs on cheap agricultural products coming from Eastern Europe and some South American countries, to protect European products from competition, although this is a policy inconsistent with the principles of free trade.
- Subsidizing energy prices for farmers for several years.
Agriculture sector
Agriculture is among the sectors most affected by extreme weather events caused by global warming, and of the four main risks to Europe as a result of rising temperatures, highlighted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, significant losses in agricultural production are one of them. Factors include The other is water scarcity and floods, both of which have already begun to hit farmers hard.
Lack of coordination between governments and farmers
In addition, the Director of the International Center for Development Studies in the United Kingdom, Sadiq Al-Rikabi, explained in a special statement to the “Eqtisad Sky News Arabia” website, that the current crisis between farmers and the European Union dates back to the year 2019 when the Union took decisions regarding the shift towards a green economy and reaching neutrality. Climate change by 2050 without coordination with farmer unions, as they are demanding that a number of these decisions be reconsidered, including not allowing farmers to use 4 percent of their land to achieve sustainable agriculture or reducing nitrogen emissions by half, by limiting livestock and poultry farming.
He continued: In addition, the European Union reduced the support provided to a sector in which nearly nine million people work, which contributed to the decline in the number of workers in the agricultural sector, which raised the cost to farmers, in addition to environmental factors such as drought and floods in some regions of Europe. It exacerbated this crisis.
Within the European Union, 8.7 million people work in agriculture, including 934,000 in Germany, 678,000 in France, and 774,000 in Spain.
War in Ukraine
He stressed that all these factors increased their negative impact on the war in Ukraine, which made the European Union countries work to encourage the economy in Ukraine by exempting Ukrainian products from duties, which negatively affected the countries neighboring Ukraine, which invaded their cheap products to compete with local products, and thus Products in those neighboring countries achieved significant losses.
The volume of agricultural imports from Ukraine to the European Union jumped from seven billion euros to 13 billion euros in 2022, which led to lower prices in Eastern Europe.
He pointed out that the rise in energy prices due to the crisis in Ukraine and the war there prompted some governments to lift subsidies on diesel, and this made the cost to the European agricultural sector high and incomes declined.
The impact of the crisis on green plans
The director of the International Center for Development Studies in the United Kingdom, Sadiq Al-Rikabi, confirmed that the transition to a green economy requires huge investments, and that the European Union has allocated large sums of money to achieve this matter, and with the presence of this crisis and the decline in production in the agricultural sector in Europe due to the previous factors and because the products… Competitive agricultural products have entered European markets, threatening the future of the sector, which will put the future of food security at risk and make European countries weak in agricultural production and hostage to the foreign import process.
According to the European Union Commission, Europe will require investments of more than 700 billion euros ($762.44 billion) annually to achieve energy transition goals to combat climate change.
supply chains
Al-Rikabi added to what he mentioned that the current crisis will lead to the disruption of supply chains within the European Union, as the protests in turn led to the blocking of roads and the disruption of the work of ports, especially since this coincided with the Red Sea crisis, and the disruption of the arrival of products, which threatens to affect the agricultural and industrial production of private companies that operate. Food production and companies that import petrochemicals from European Union countries.
He stressed that the plans for the transition to the green economy will be negatively affected after these protests, as the investment process in this sector requires huge capital, and the high cost for the European Union countries will affect the Union’s ability to finance these policies, especially with the widespread rejection of them after they were taken in isolation from farmers, which is what It will lead to a process of regression, delay, and obstruction of the implementation of these policies.
Solutions can be taken
The director of the International Center for Development Studies in the United Kingdom stressed the need to look at the structure of the agricultural sector, which in Europe has relied for many years on fossil fuels, fertilizers and pesticides, noting that 80 percent of the support that was provided within the Union, 20 percent of which goes to farms. Consequently, it was causing economic and environmental losses.
He said that the largest beneficiary of the support operations were agricultural and food processing companies, so the measures that should have been taken to resolve this crisis were to be carried out in coordination with farmers’ unions in a way that guarantees farmers’ rights and protects European agricultural production from unfair competition, and not to adopt free trade agreements alone. Just to look at the industrial sector in isolation from the agricultural sector, there are free trade agreements planned by the European Union that will allow the flow of agricultural products. The strange thing is that these agricultural products that will enter Europe are grown by countries that use pesticides banned in the Union, but the European Union leaders insist on this matter. Because they are counting on increasing their exports to those countries and thus improving the European economy.
He also stressed that there is an urgent need for the crisis to be resolved in cooperation and coordination with farmers who agree to green transformation policies, but want it to be a gradual and fair transformation that guarantees the rights of everyone and achieves profit and benefit for the European Union, carbon neutrality, reducing emissions, and improving the opportunities for transitioning towards a green economy.
Proposed formal solutions
Some countries that witnessed unrest and protests among farmers sought to offer solutions that would stop this crisis:
- The European Commission proposed exempting farmers from the necessity of leaving 4 percent of their land uncultivated, and imposing taxes on Ukrainian products if imports exceed a certain limit.
- France proposed canceling the increase in fuel for agricultural vehicles, easing taxes on the middle class, including small farmers and agricultural workers, and simplifying administrative procedures.
- The government in Germany is still insisting on canceling the exemption for diesel used in agriculture, despite the large protests, but it decided to implement the cancellation gradually, and canceled a tax that it was going to impose on agricultural vehicles.
- The European Commission announced that the proposal to reduce the use of pesticides by half would be canceled and reformulated, and farmers were granted a temporary exemption from the rules for allocating land to preserve nature, partially reversing the 2021 decision to allow free access to agricultural imports from Ukraine, which jumped from 7 billion Euros to 13 billion euros in 2022, causing a glut and lower prices in Eastern European countries.
Reconsider policies
For his part, the CEO of the Corum Center for Strategic Studies in London, Tariq Al-Rifai, stressed in a statement to the “Iqtisad Sky News Arabia” website, the need for the European Union to support the agricultural sector and not reduce its production.
He said that the crisis that we are witnessing today with the farmers’ protest and negotiations is not surprising, and that last year the protests began in the Netherlands and the victory of a new party supporting the farmers’ policy against the government’s policy, which is the “Citizen Farmers Movement,” which strongly entered the Senate in March 2023, noting that those protests It then moved to other European countries, including Poland, Germany, and Italy.
Regarding the solution to this crisis, the CEO of the Corum Center for Strategic Studies in London said that European governments must support the agricultural sector and not be against it, and reconsider their policies, which are expected to fail as the European Union failed with the implementation of the green agenda towards energy production. Today, Germany is suffering. Due to the interruption of gas from Russia, and with the return to opening coal power plants again, which is evidence of failure.
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