Hundreds of tractors paralyzed the center of Brussels on Monday, on the sidelines of a meeting of agriculture ministers from the 27 countries that paves the way for simplifications of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
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As on February 1, the Belgian capital became the epicenter of agrarian anger: around 900 agricultural vehicles were counted by the police, who barricaded the area around the European Council.
It used water cannons to put out fires lit by protesters, leading to tense clashes. Delegations from Spain, Portugal and the powerful Italian Coldiretti Confederation worked with Belgian organizations.
AFP
Under pressure, member states called on the European Commission to come up with a plan to “simplify” CAP rules. Brussels will present its first ideas on Monday.
But there is desperation among the demonstrators AFP met in Brussels.
AFP
“We have been protesting for months, they continue to hesitate, nothing happens,” says Marieke Van de Vivere, who works on the family farm, angrily and criticizes the regulatory “madness”.
“We have to pay for the horse that produces manure, the Green Deal tells us how to deal with the manure, where it goes… it's completely mind-boggling,” she sighs.
AFP
“So much bureaucracy that we can’t continue producing. We need a policy that guarantees profitability and generational change (…) And we have no control over imports from third countries,” adds Adoración Blanque from the Young Spanish Farmers.
After an exemption for fallow land that has already been approved, the obligations to maintain permanent meadows for breeders in the transition could be relaxed. Several states also require flexibility in crop rotation.
Tolerance would be granted to farmers who fail to comply with CAP criteria due to climatic events. Finally, reporting requirements would be reduced and inspection visits would be halved.
AFP
Beyond these short-term measures, which the European executive could quickly ratify, Brussels, in negotiations with states and MEPs, is opening the door to “medium-term” legislative revisions of the CAP to amend certain provisions and “reduce the burden”.
In the immediate future, “we need something pragmatic, operational (…) there is room (for changes) within the current rules,” assessed French Minister Marc Fesneau upon his arrival.
“But some things require a change in the constitution. Whether this change in the law extends to the European elections (in June) is irrelevant. “The most important thing is that we move forward: we need to chart a course and lay the foundations for a CAP that offers long-term security,” he stressed.
At the same time, Paris is calling – through amendments in the European Parliament – for the resumption of legislation to limit pollutant emissions from poultry and pig farms.
“bureaucracy monster”
“There is a lot of anger over broken promises: the current CAP is a bureaucratic monster” and reforms are “necessary” to “promote work in the fields instead of paperwork,” explained German Minister Cem Özdemir.
But without “wrong solutions”: “We have to guarantee that we can make money from biodiversity.” “Anyone who advocates a pause in climate protection is anything but a friend of farmers,” he warns in view of the impending dissolution of ecological obligations .
Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said he was open to simply adding “incentives” to several green bonds (fallow farming, crop rotation, etc.).
A review of agricultural policy “is a good thing” to “better remunerate” farmers, says Belgian Minister David Clarinval, recalling that the Commission will also propose “price formation” measures in March.
“There are elements (of the legislation) of the Green Deal that are required of farmers but not compensated, that is the heart of the problem,” he added.
Agricultural organizations are calling for a “final end” to trade negotiations with the South American Mercosur countries and a “better value sharing” with manufacturers and traders.
Vincent Delobel, goat breeder and managing director of the Walloon union Fugea, recognizes a structural project “greater than the small reduction in administrative costs” and denounces “an economic vice”: “We cannot live, the PAC bonuses come by infusion.”
Another explosive issue: Brussels proposed measures to restrict Ukrainian imports, accusing them of hindering markets without reassuring them. In Poland, farmers are still blocking border crossings and dumping Ukrainian cargo onto the roads.