Fewer obligations, more leeway: The EU agriculture ministers decided to make things easier for farmers at a meeting in Brussels. There were protests again on site – with burning tires and hay bales.
They’re back: For the third time since the beginning of the year, hundreds of tractors are blocking Brussels’ European Quarter. Farmers, especially from Belgium, piled up bales of hay and set tires on fire. The protest is having an effect: the EU states have decided to relax environmental regulations.
“This is not a concession to farmers,” emphasizes French Minister Marc Fesneau. “It’s an echo, a response to what’s right in what they’ve said about fundamental problems in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and that’s why I think it’s just a sensible measure.”
Relaxation in cultivation
The EU is relaxing rules for the cultivation of catch crops. Member states will have more leeway to decide which soils should be protected in which season. Farmers will continue to be exempt from the obligation to set aside part of their arable land in order to protect species.
Farms with an area of less than 10 hectares are exempt from controls and penalties. This affects two thirds of recipients of direct payments under the CAP. Those responsible hope that this will significantly reduce administrative costs without affecting the environmental goals.
“A bundle of numerous measures”
“We listened to our farmers and acted quickly to address their concerns at a time when they are facing numerous challenges,” said David Clarinval, the minister responsible for Belgium, which currently holds the EU Presidency.
For example, winter cover measures should be made more flexible or ensure more flexibility in crop rotations. A second package envisages setting up a price observation center in order to be able to react quickly to falling prices. “It is therefore a bundle of numerous measures, all of which have an impact on prices on the markets, in order to specifically increase farmers’ income,” says Clarinval.
Özdemir: Not environmental protection neglect
Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir is also calling for bureaucratic ballast to be shed. However, the Green politician emphasizes that the EU must not let up on environmental protection.
His Austrian colleague Norbert Totschnig welcomes the relief: “They bring more flexibility for farmers. This means relief in terms of controls, especially for smaller companies. In my view, it is now necessary that these proposals are implemented quickly so that they also quickly have an effect on those affected.”
Negotiations on Ukrainian agricultural products are ongoing
In several European countries, farmers and their associations are protesting against falling prices, new environmental regulations from Brussels and agricultural imports from Ukraine. The EU Commission has proposed reintroducing tariffs on imports of some Ukrainian agricultural products above a certain quantity, such as eggs, poultry and sugar.
“You have to support Ukraine militarily and economically, but there must not be an imbalance in the markets,” explains French Minister Fesneau. “If we lose the support of public opinion and our European agriculture, then it will benefit neither Ukraine nor Europe. We are in favor of a balanced position.”
Negotiations on this are still ongoing. The relief for farmers is to be decided quickly and approved in the EU Parliament at the end of April.
Jakob Mayr, ARD Brussels, tagesschau, March 26, 2024 2:25 p.m