That’s why green activists joined farmers’ protests for fairer EU farming policies

As social and environmental justice activists, we joined the farmers’ protest in Brussels.

We hear the frustration of farmers who struggle with low incomes, lack of prospects for the future, and the consequences of years of unsustainable policies.

We share their fight for a fairer agricultural system and their call to end the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement.

The anger of many farmers is legitimate. But after years of being ignored by political leaders, it is now being dangerously pursued by some conservative and far-right parties and agri-industrial lobbyists, such as COPA-COGECA, trying to break green objectives and commitments .

Environmental legislation is not an enemy; The challenges faced by farmers, from heat waves to floods and droughts, will only deny the real nature of the climate and biodiversity crises.

The next European Commission must lead the transition of our agricultural and food systems in a fair, just and climate-friendly way.

What we absolutely do not need are more quick fixes and false corporate promises that have already led us to this dead end.

The objection should not be used for backtracking

For over sixty years, European farming policies and subsidies have supported the industrialization of our agriculture, heavily dependent on fossil fuels, fertilizers and pesticides.

More than 80% of subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) still go to 20% of European farms, promoting large-scale industrial production and land concentration.

This model, along with its devastating environmental and health toll, traps farmers in a vicious cycle of ever-increasing expenditure with no guarantee of adequate income.

However, it largely benefits agricultural and food corporations.

It is extremely cynical, to say the least, to use farmers’ protests to push back further environmental measures — such as the reduction in fallow land at EU level and the pause in the plan to reduce the use of pesticides in France.

A plastic cow bearing the colors of the EU flag is held aloft by a strap from a tractor during a farmers' demonstration outside the European Parliament, January 2024

A plastic cow bearing the colors of the EU flag is held aloft by a strap from a tractor during a farmers’ demonstration outside the European Parliament, January 2024 – AP Photo/Virginia Mayo

It is no wonder that they are the ones who have mounted an intense lobbying campaign in recent years against a meaningful reform of the CAP and the farming objectives of the European Green Cooperation.

It is extremely cynical, to say the least, to be using farmers’ protests to further push back on environmental measures – such as the reduction in fallow land at EU level and the pause in the plan to use pesticides to reduce in France.

Agreements favoring corporate giants are at the root of the issue

In some European countries, such as France, Spain and Belgium, farmers are demanding a halt to the deal between the EU and Mercosur and other free trade agreements currently being negotiated by the European Union.

These agreements also favor corporate giants such as BASF, Bayer and Cargil, and undermine the viability of small-scale family farmers and hinder the transition to sustainable food and farming systems.

The EU-Mercosur agreement would mean that European farmers would be able to compete with imported food produced with pesticides that are effectively banned in the EU.

People gather outside the European Parliament during a protest by farmers and MEPs gather for an EU summit in Brussels, February 2024People gather outside the European Parliament during a protest by farmers and MEPs gather for an EU summit in Brussels, February 2024

People gather outside the European Parliament during a protest by farmers and MEPs gather for an EU summit in Brussels, February 2024 – AP Photo/Thomas Padilla

The EU-Mercosur agreement would mean that European farmers would be able to compete with imported food produced with pesticides that are effectively banned in the EU.

Pesticides being produced and exported by the EU itself, with disastrous impacts on local populations and the environment. Free trade agreements weaken local economies, food sovereignty and peasant rights.

That’s one of the reasons environmentalists have long fought alongside peasant movements against these unfair trade deals.

We desperately need a real transformation

Governments need to address the real issues facing farmers: fair income, workers’ rights, and the shift towards local food systems and agro-ecology.

Many farmers are ready to change, but this is not compatible with producing at the lowest prices in a globalized and deregulated market.

A real transformation of agricultural policies, which would put farmers — and especially small and medium-scale farmers — at the forefront of the decision-making processes, is essential to complete this transition.

We joined farmers, including our allies from La Via Campesina, on the streets of Brussels to demand an immediate end to negotiations on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement and public support for a serious transition to more sustainable agricultural models which will benefit people and farmers.

Clara Bourgin is a food, agriculture and nature campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe.

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