The Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting in Brussels on Monday took place against the backdrop of farmers' protests that left their trade union representatives exasperated with the violence by some of their members and dissatisfied with the response of the EU institutions to their demands.
The previous protests during the European Council on 1 February were overall peaceful but turned in some places into clashes with the police. As previously reported, the farmers are angry with EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) and feel that they had been left behind in their incomes and are weighing down administrative burdens and excessive regulations.
In an attempt to address the grievances of the farmers, the European Commission has proposed postponing the requirement to leave 4% of arable land fallow each year and imposing restrictions on imports of poultry, eggs and sugar from Ukraine.
Ahead of the Agriculture Council meeting, the Commission sent a ‘non-paper’ to the Belgian EU Presidency presenting options for simplification to reduce the burden for EU farmers. The document, which has been seen by The Brussels Times, was discussed at the council meeting on Monday. It lists a range of short- and mid-term actions that can be taken to achieve simplification.
But apparently it was not enough. The protests this time were more violent and caused chaos in Brussels. Over 900 tractors took to the Brussels' EU quarter on Monday to express their displeasure with European agricultural policy. The tractors blocked streets, disrupted traffic and prevented EU employees from entering their work places.
The European Commission seemed to have got used to violent or disruptive protests in Brussels. “We support the right to peaceful demonstrations but it’s the responsibility of the host country, in this case Belgium, to set the limits and enforce national legislation,” Eric Mamer, chief spokesperson of the Commission, commented.
We pay a price for the right to demonstrate as they might lead to a certain level of disruption, he added.
The Walloon farmers' federation FUGEA made it clear that their number one demand was a guaranteed decent income for farmers. "To achieve this, we have no choice but to move away from the policies of free trade and market deregulation," Timothée Petel, FUGEA's policy officer, was quoted saying in media.
"The Commission is proposing to put certain environmental rules on hold (which we did not ask for) and to simplify administrative procedures. Admittedly, this is necessary for farmers, but it does not address our priority, which is to set fair prices." The federation wants the European Commission to take "strong action on these issues" and considers its recent decisions to be "largely insufficient."
No quick fix
If the farmers are looking for a quick fix of their main concern, they will probably continue to be disappointed. According to the option paper, the Commission will launch an online survey in March directly addressed to farmers.
This targeted consultation will help to identify their main sources of concern, and understand the sources of administrative burden and complexity stemming from CAP and other EU rules for food and agriculture in the EU, and their application at national level. The survey results will be included in a more detailed analysis to be published in Autumn 2024.
However, the paper does not explicitly address the issue of fair income or redistribution of the payments under the CAP that currently are favoring large-scale agri-businesses at the expense of small farmers.
The paper says that it will work on actions to improve the farmers in the food value chain and protect them against unfair trading practices. Such actions may cover issues such as market transparency, trading practices in the value chain, costs of production.
Describing the main results of the Agriculture Council meeting, the Council confirmed its political will to respond effectively to the concerns of farmers and, as a first step, agreed on a set of concrete measures that should be a priority for the short-term response to the current crisis. It also offered political guidance for the way forward and for a structural approach in the medium and long term.
“The outcome of our meeting shows we are listening to farmers and we hear them loud and clear,” the Council said and welcomed recent decisions announced by the Commission in this context.
“We are committed to helping ease the pressures they are facing and to offering them concrete solution,” the Council said, referring to the Commission’s option paper. “The priorities for simplification measures we agreed on will reduce the administrative burden on farmers and give them the flexibility they need.”
“We are also looking ahead to the future, to improve farmers' position in the food supply chain, while ensuring we respect our environmental sustainability commitments.” The Council mandated the Commission to take work forward in the CAP and examine ways of improving the situation of farmers in the mid- to long-term, including their position in the food supply chain or value chain.
In parallel, the strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture launched by the Commission will continue to run, to identify ways of improving the CAP in the long-term. The aim of this new forum is to shape a shared vision for the future of the EU's farming and food system but it is not likely to lead into any new legislative proposals during the current Commission.
The Commission chief spokesperson confirmed that the issue of the income concerns of the farmers is also a medium- and long-term issue and will be part of the discussions in the strategic dialogue.
Furthermore, The Belgian EU Presidency, together with the European Commission and the future Presidencies of Hungary and Poland, met 15 representatives of different organisations representing the farmers. The outcome of this meeting is difficult to assess as there is no press release or joint statement from the meeting.
The EU Presidency reportedly presented the package of measures adopted by the Council. The farmers replied that the simplification measures could be seen as a good first step but that much more needs to be done as regards CAP legislation. It will be up to the Commission to come up with new proposals for changes in the CAP.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
