The tractor protest spreads like wildfire. From France to Germany it also arrives in Italy where from Bologna it passes to Abruzzo to also land in Lazio. Costs are too high, farmers are at their limit, also crushed by large-scale distribution which imposes ever lower prices. And Brussels can’t find anything better than to start today the Strategic Dialogue on the future of agriculture. A discussion table which will meet every 4-6 weeks, but will not lead to anything at least until September, that is, after the European elections scheduled for 6-9 June. With all due respect to the companies that are already struggling today.
In every corner of Europe, the demonstrators underline that the resources are becoming thinner and small entrepreneurs are left with nothing, as highlighted the Committee of Betrayed Farmers (CRA) which lashes out against a European Union which is favorable to large companies to the detriment of small and medium-sized companies which in Italy contribute to around 40% of exports for more than 200 billion.
For farmers, the Union’s policy favors large agricultural confederations and thus damages small businesses, regardless of the quality and characteristics of the products. Not to mention the synthetic meat and fish lobby which from overseas is pushing for the marketing of products made by workers in the Old Continent too.
In Italy the protest is spreading
Two forays into the streets of Frosinone. On Wednesday, ninety agricultural tractors paraded along Regional Road 156 Monti Lepini in the urban stretch that crosses the capital. The caravan of agricultural vehicles, following the route agreed with the Police Headquarters, then reached Piazzale Europa where the deployed vehicles remained in garrison for several hours, with banners that highlighted the reasons for the protest: the community policies and the government decisions which – they claim – they do not protect the sector. The first demonstration only last Monday. And there are others planned.
The situation is no better Emilia Romagna. The beating heart of Italian agriculture, even in this region tractors promise to return to the streets of Bologna. Again similar scenes on Tuesday. Hundreds of farmers have asked the government to intervene to avoid the closure of companies due to the combined effect of incorrect community policies and skyrocketing costs for both fuel and fertilizers.
DTwo days of protests have just ended in Abruzzo. In breaking latest news the tractors positioned themselves near the motorway toll booths, from breaking latest news to Celano to Vasto-San Salvo to Pratola Peligna. For workers, the agricultural policies imposed by the European Union are “disastrous and destructive for the sector”. “High production prices and at sales we are almost unable to even recover our expenses. We are on our knees,” explained the protesters.
Meanwhile, tension is rising in France and Germany
The epicenter of the French protests continues to be in the south-west where bales of hay mixed with manure were set on fire in front of the prefecture in Agen. The third largest trade union, the Conféderation Paysanne, joined the protest and the demonstrators were increasingly numerous in the east. In Strasbourg, on Wednesday, several hundred tractors blocked the motorway that runs around the city and is effectively a very busy ring road. In Germany the situation remains heated after the protest two weeks ago.
But Brussels turns a deaf ear
The Union continues to talk about turning the green transition into a new business model. Without dealing with the real problems of the world of agriculture. “It is clear that we must act for the future of the European agri-food sectorwe need to ensure that it remains competitive but with adequate income for farmers and businesses along the chain,” he stressed the Vice President of the European Commission for the Green Deal, Maros Sefcovic.
But the central theme remains “find a balance between agricultural competitiveness and planetary limits, asking for concrete measures and tools”. Hence the Strategic Dialogue on the future of agriculture, which will be chaired by the German professor Peter Strohschneider, to try to calm things down in view of the European elections (6-9 June). But the fact that the first results will arrive in September, It certainly doesn’t console farmers, who don’t have the time of institutions, but of businesses.