Do you hear the farmers sing? Because there have been a lot of angry men (and women) taking to the streets recently.
Except, this time it’s not French peasants barricading the streets, as in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, but Dutch De Ellendigen – closely followed by German Die Elenden.
So, what is going on?
It all started when Dutch farmers started protesting over the news that the government plans to restrict livestock numbers and fertiliser use in a bid to cut its carbon emissions.
Back in mid-June, the Dutch cabinet announced plans to slash nitrogen emissions by 50% – rising to 70% in some areas – by 2030 as per EU regulations on nitrate pollution which, in practice, would force many livestock farms either to downsize or close altogether.
The news has predictably gone down like a sack of (ahem) manure with Dutch farmers, who took to the streets in their thousands, blockading ports, airports and roads with the ever-versatile symbol of resistance, the humble tractor, and torching straw bales in the streets.
While some media reports have positioned these protests as a pushback on the EU’s sustainability ambitions, for Wytse Sonnema from farming organisation LTO Netherlands, this is an oversimplification.
While the farmers association does have an issue with the target itself, which Sonnema called “unrealistic and unacceptable”, he maintained that this is “not about sustainability as an issue per se, despite what some might think.”
He stressed that the Dutch agricultural sector is among the most sustainable in the world and has already slashed carbon emissions by 20% and nitrogen emissions by two-thirds since the 1990s.
Instead, it is the heavy-handed, top-down approach of the government that farmers take umbrage.
“Imagine, you’re sitting at your kitchen table, a fifth or sixth generation farmer, and this map arrives with entire regions with 70-95% reduction targets and you’re thinking – there’s no future for farming in your local area, region, community,” he explained.
This has fuelled a growing “sense of frustration, anger, despair, and powerlessness,” he said.
On a more abstract level, he continued, this frustration is borne out of a disconnect between political ambitions and real-world outcomes.
“There’s a frustration that the assignment has changed – produce good food and plenty of it. If the assignment is changing from food security to sustainability, that’s fine, but you have to make sure you’re realistic about it,” he said.
And the anger that has spurred on Dutch farmers has now spilt across borders to Germany, where farmers took to the streets this week in a show of solidarity with their Dutch counterparts amid rumblings of discontent of their own.
The Dutch protests have also caught the attention of Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, who met with the LTO last week to discuss the discontent.
Meanwhile, responding to questions from journalists over the protests, a spokesperson for the European Commission declined to comment directly on the situation in the Netherlands this week.
He did, however, praise the Dutch government for working towards addressing climate, nitrogen, water quality and biodiversity challenges in an “integrated” way, inviting the country to make full use of the EU funds to support the country in its transition.
And it seems there’s no special dispensation coming any time soon for the country, which made a request for another derogation under the nitrates directive as, according to the Commission spokesperson, the EU executive will not be taking this decision before the next meeting of the nitrates Committee in September.
One thing’s for sure though – at a moment when EU farmers are being squeezed by skyrocketing input prices while being expected to step up and fill the gaps left by the Ukraine war, there are plenty of farmers across the EU worried about what will happen when tomorrow comes.
By Natasha Foote
Subscribe to EURACTIV’s Agrifood Brief, where you’ll find the latest roundup of news covering agriculture and food from across Europe. The Agrifood Brief is brought to you by EURACTIV’s Agrifood Team – Gerardo Fortuna (@gerardofortuna), Natasha Foote (@NatashaFoote), Julia Dahm (@dahm_julia), and Yaroslava Bukhta (@YaroslavaBukhta)
Podcast
This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks food security and concerns over grain shortages, as highlighted in the European Commission’s latest agricultural outlook report, we are joined by Kristian Sniter from the EU court of auditors to hear about their latest report on fraud risks in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), including practices such as land-grabbing, and we take a closer look at a natural ‘LSD’ for our flavour of the week.
Agri stories this week
Top EU court backs Greece against Denmark in closure of feta export saga
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) confirmed on Thursday (14 July) that the EU’s protection for Greek feta cheese also applies outside the bloc’s borders, in a ruling that settles a long-standing cheese legal fight between Greece and Denmark. Yaroslava Bukhta has more.
EU agencies refute accusations of bias in glyphosate assessment approach
The two European agencies in charge of the risk assessment on glyphosate have defended their approach to evaluating whether the herbicide is safe for re-approval in the EU against criticism from environment lawmakers. Julia Dahm has the story.
Ukrainian grain barely reaches countries in need via ‘solidarity lanes’, Commission says
While ‘solidarity lanes’ have helped to increase Ukrainian grain exports, the majority of wheat is stuck in the nearby EU countries barely reaching the third countries that need it, according to the European Commission. Yaroslava Bukhta has the details.
Campaign groups warn of ‘major uncertainties’ in agri stats reform
Campaigners are warning against “major factors” of uncertainty in the EU’s agricultural statistics reform that won approval from the European Parliament’s agriculture committee on Tuesday (12 July) in the first step towards its full adoption. Natasha Foote has more.
Commission revises cereal production, export estimates amid extreme weather
Contrary to initial expectations and despite measures to boost domestic production, EU cereal production is expected to be 2.5% lower this year than in 2021 due to extreme weather conditions such as increased heat and decreased rainfall. Gerardo Fortuna and Julia Dahm explain more.
Commission kept in the dark on Slovenia’s plan to buy local wheat
The European Commission has not been officially informed about the plans of the Slovenian government to purchase all wheat Slovenian farmers produce this year to stabilise prices and protect food supplies. Gerardo Fortuna and Sebastijan R. Maček have the story.
Germany approves nitrate compromise to avoid hefty fines
The German parliament’s upper house approved a compromise proposal for implementing the EU Nitrates Directive on Friday (8 July), put forward by German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir to avoid paying huge fines to Brussels. Julia Dahm has more.
Agri-bites
Forest strategy wins first round of approval. MEPs in the European Parliament’s agriculture committee adopted a draft resolution on the EU’s new EU Forest Strategy for 2030, which highlights the importance and diversity of EU forests and calls for their sustainable management developed with forest owners. The resolution now needs to be voted by the European Parliament’s plenary, possibly during the September session.
Czech Presidency priorities. The Czech agriculture minister Zdeněk Nekula addressed MEPs in the European Parliament’s agriculture committee to outline the agrifood priorities of the Czech Presidency. The key theme was food security in light of the war in Ukraine, highlighting ambitions to grant or extend Common Agricultural Policy exemptions until 2023. However, he stressed that these would remain “temporary and exception” and that food security concerns must be balanced with environmental ambitions. The minister also touched upon a range of other issues, including front-of-pack labelling. A proposal for a harmonised EU-wide approach to labelling is due before the end of the year, under Czechia’s watch. Nekula was critical of the frontrunner system, the Nutriscore, saying that he is “convinced” that, under the system, consumers might “perceive that traditional and local foods are at a disadvantage and I believe that this is something that we must not underestimate.”
EU throws ‘hand grenade’ into global agri-food trade, writes expert. While notifications of maximum residue levels (MRLs) of pesticides at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are routine, a notification on two neonicotinoid pesticides, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, from the 6 July stands out because it is the first time the EU, or any WTO member, has proposed to set MRLs on the basis of global environmental impact rather consumer health. Learn more in this blog post from agri expert Alan Matthews.
School scheme offers support for displaced Ukrainian children. The European Commission has announced that redistribution of aid under the EU school scheme will see €2.9 million allocated towards catering for the needs of displaced Ukrainian children in EU schools. Learn more.
Commissioner champions free trade with Vietnam. EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski was in Vietnam this week promoting a closer agrifood relationship between the two, calling for “implementing the principles of free trade and removing unnecessary barriers”. “The EU remains a reliable partner and we are ready to export our finest food and beverage products to Vietnam,” he said in a tweet.
FAO Food Price Index continues downwards trend. The FAO Food Price Index, a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities, averaged 154.2 points in June 2022, down 3.7 points (2.3%) from May, marking the third consecutive monthly decline.
New geographical indication. The Commission has approved this week a new protected geographical indication (PGI) from Hungary: the ‘Derecske alma’, apples grown in the Derecske region.
CAP corner
‘Time is tight’ for CAP plan approvals. Addressing MEPs in the European Parliament’s agriculture committee this week, a Commission representative stressed that the EU executive is doing “all it can” to get Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) national strategic plans adopted as quickly as possible. “We are confident that we have all elements needed to adopt plans this year. But that said, time is tight,” he said. However, the representative conceded there are some spanners in the works, with one member state refusing to respond to the Commission’s feedback. An EU source later identified this country as Italy, although told EURACTIV that countries are not obliged to respond and the absence of the reply to the observation letter “does not affect the process”. However, this raised concerns among MEPs, who queried whether the CAP transition period would have to be extended in the event that plans were not approved in time for January 2023. Meanwhile, EU farmers have consistently said that plans need to be approved no later than September to allow time to prepare for the beginning of the CAP period in January 2023.
Ukraine corner
A step forward to restore Black Sea exports made in Istanbul. Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations held a meeting on the restoration of exports via the Black Sea, where it was agreed to set up a coordination centre with Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations for grain exports. The final agreement is supposed to be signed next week, but, according to U.N. chief Antonio Guterres, “it’s not yet fully done”. Before the talks on Wednesday, diplomats said details of the plan included Ukrainian vessels guiding grain ships in and out through mined port waters; Russia agreeing to a truce while shipments move; and Turkey – supported by the United Nations – inspecting ships to allay Russian fears of weapons smuggling, says Reuters. If the talks are successful, potentially, it may lead to unblocking more than 20 million tons of grain blocked in Ukrainian seaports because of a full-scale Russian invasion.
One more route for Ukrainian grain exports via the Danube river. Due to the liberation of the Snake island from the Russians and its return under the control of Ukraine, a new route for grain vessels via the mouth of Bystre on the Danube river became available. The route is available only for ships carrying up to 7,000 tons of grain because of the depth of the pass. Thus, small ships can go via the Bystre to Izmail, Reni and Ust-Dunaisk, load, go out into the Black Sea and head for Romania and Bulgaria, where grain is transhipped onto Panamax (which can transport from 30,000 to 50,000 tons of grain). 16 vessels have already passed through the Bystre mouth of the Danube-Black Sea waterway to load Ukrainian grain, meanwhile more than 90 vessels are waiting for their turn to enter Ukrainian ports at the Sulina canal roadway – which once more emphasised the need to unblock the seaports.
Agrifood news from the CAPitals
FRANCE
French government launches action pan against nitrites in charcuterie. The government in Paris plans an “action plan” in autumn to reduce consumers’ exposure to nitrates in charcuterie, after the country’s food safety agency confirmed their link to certain cancers on Tuesday (13 July). Find out all the info here. (Hugo Struna I EURACTIV.fr)
GERMANY
Government approves crisis aid for farmers. The government cabinet in Berlin has agreed on the first out of two aid packages planned by agriculture minister Cem Özdemir to help farmers cope with the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Altogether, € 180 million are set to be disbursed to farmers, including vegetable, fruit, wine and hop producers as well as certain livestock farms. “The consequences of the criminal war in Ukraine strongly burden the agriculture sector,” Özdemir stressed after the agreement on Wednesday (13 July), adding the funds would be disbursed directly to farms without any unnecessary red tape. (Julia Dahm I EURACTIV.de)
LUXEMBOURG
Luxembourg aims to reduce agricultural ammonia emissions. After recent analyses showed ammonia emissions in the country are currently above the maximum values set out in the EU’s emission reduction directive, the Luxembourgish government is working on a package of measures set to help curb emissions. The measures, which are set to be enshrined into law as soon as possible according to the agriculture ministry, mainly consist of stricter rules on which techniques can be used to fertilise fields. (Julia Dahm I EURACTIV.de)
SPAIN
Chicken question reignites controversy over Moroccan food imports. The EU’s decision to allow the entry of chickens from Morocco into the European market has been met with protest from Spanish producers, who fear the step opens the door for more food imports that do not meet European standards. Find out more from EURACTIV’s partner EFE Agro.
FINLAND
Finns want to see wine sales liberalised. Most Finns think alcoholic beverages higher than 5.5% proof should not just be sold in Finland’s alcohol retail monopoly Alko, but also in grocery stores and supermarkets, a new survey published Thursday has found. Read the full story here. (Pekka Vanttinen I EURACTIV.com)
HUNGARY
Hungary promises help to get Ukraine’s grain out. Hungary pledged to contribute to the expansion of Ukraine’s grain exports and said it would back an entrepreneurial zone for processing plants on their shared border. Find out more here. (Attila Tóth-Szenesi I Telex)
SLOVENIA
Slovenia relaxes biofuel rules to fight price surge. Fuel retailers will have greater leeway in determining how much biofuel they add to their fuels under an amended regulation on renewable sources in transport the government adopted to help keep fuel prices in check. Read more.
GREECE
First EU funds help Greek farmers cope with Ukraine war fallout. Greece has submitted its proposal for the use of the exceptional financial assistance of more than € 26 million that the country was allocated from the Commission’s crisis reserve, the agriculture ministry announced last Friday (8 July). The funds constitute emergency help to member states deal with the consequences of the war in Ukraine. Greece’s proposal is set to benefit fruit and vegetable producers, winemakers, and producers of organic grapes and raisins. Meanwhile, the ministry also announced the submission of a proposal for support to livestock farmers through the EU’s Rural Development Fund (EAFRD). (Georgia Evangelia Karagianni| EURACTIV.gr)
KOSOVO
Kosovo makes free tap water mandatory. All cafés, bars and restaurants in Kosovo must now provide customers with drinking water free of charge, following a government decision that could serve as an example for other countries. Find out all the info. (Alice Taylor I exit.al)
Events
18 July | AGRIFISH Council meeting