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Occitan farmers in Agen on January 22, 2024.
In January and February 2024, farmer protests flared up in various countries of the European Union, including in Belgium and Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, Poland, and Romania. While not all categories of farmers participated in the protests, and discontent often stemmed from diverse motives,[^1][^2] the objections mainly focused on the "inconsistent and directionless" EU agricultural policy, more specifically:
- the European Green Deal
- the increased complexity of the regulatory framework, mockingly referred to as regulationism
- free trade, which forces European agricultural products to compete with exports from countries with less stringent regulations
- other 'restrictive' measures for agriculture such as water extraction policy, fuel taxes, or border tariffs.[1]
The protests were initiated in many cases by individual farmers and small organizations, and usually not by the large farming syndicates.
Countries
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An incomplete overview of the protests in Europe:[2]
| Country | Main Cause | Government Response | Impact on the Sector | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Germany | Abolition of tax exemptions | Review of measures | High tension in the sector | | France | Environmental regulations, energy costs, agreement with Ukraine and Mercosur | Dialogue with farmers | National mobilization | | Greece | Costs and natural disasters | Limited financial support**[3]** | Crisis in production | | Italy[4] | Bureaucracy, cheap imports from outside the EU, fuel costs, EU environmental measures | Understanding, dialogue | Tension in the sector | | Lithuania | Ban on Russian goods | National mobilization | Lithuanian export crisis | | Poland | Agreement with Ukraine | Awaiting response | High tension in the sector | | Romania | Agreement with Ukraine | Awaiting answer | Market unrest | | Spain | CAP reform, Green Pact and import of Moroccan agri-food products, labeling control, reform of animal welfare laws and protection of species threatening livestock, about the demolition of dams, tax cuts, against climate geo-engineering CPM, bureaucracy. | Evaluation of joint actions of farmers and livestock breeders and possible support to other sectors such as transportation. | Dissatisfaction in the sector. National mobilization. | | Czech Republic | High energy costs, cheap imports from Ukraine, Green Pact.[5] | Rejection. | Dissatisfaction in the sector. |
Belgium
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On 1 February 2024, farmers in the European Quarter of Brussels demonstrated following a European Council. According to the police, 1,000 tractors had already taken action.[6] Blockades were also set up elsewhere in Belgium.[7]
Netherlands
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Persistent protests, roadblocks, and demonstrations were also expressions of discontent in the agricultural sector in the Netherlands.[8]
Germany
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The farmer protests in Germany started on 15 December 2023, and were directed against the federal government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, specifically the tax increases for farmers, due to the overall budget deficit for 2024. Additionally, the Minister of Agriculture announced the abolition of subsidies for agricultural diesel and the introduction of a road tax for agricultural vehicles. The protests, supported by the farmers' organization Landwirtschaft verbindet Deutschland (LsV Deutschland), included a major demonstration in Berlin and the hanging of boots as a silent protest. The political demands of the demonstrators include the cancellation of the planned tax increases and further measures to support agriculture. While the federal government partially agreed to the demands, the German Farmers' Association and LsV Deutschland rejected the proposals as insufficient and demanded the complete abolition of all additional burdens.
LsV Deutschland presented a five-point program on January 14, 2024, with the main demands being: binding criteria for imported agricultural products, mandatory labeling of the origin of foreign agricultural products, a ban on dumping in the Due Diligence in Supply Chains Act, a ban on unfair trading practices, regulation of wolf populations in rural areas, and reduction of bureaucracy.
Numerous professional associations, organizations, and citizens expressed their active support for the farmers' protests. Political parties such as the Freie Wähler (Bavaria) and the Alternative für Deutschland have declared solidarity with the protests, although the AfD fundamentally rejects subsidies. Several politicians showed support or understanding, including those from the Union (CDU/CSU), and Sahra Wagenknecht.
The roadblocks set up by the farmers led to violent and criminal acts against the protesting farmers in some cases.
France
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Map of farmers' income in France in 2018. In France, the farmers' movement first appeared in Occitania (January 18, 2024), where farmers are much poorer than in the Paris region.
In France, it was about a series of demonstrations and roadblocks mainly organized by agricultural syndicates (FNSEA, Jeunes Agriculteurs, Coordination Rurale, Confédération Paysanne) since January 18, 2024. Farmers expressed their anger and demanded better working conditions due to declining incomes and rising costs, unfair competition from free trade agreements, excessive regulations, taxes, certain aspects of EU agricultural regulations, and French government controls. They demanded concrete and swift action from the government. After more than a week of protests, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced measures on January 26, but many considered them insufficient. On January 29, eight highways around Paris were partially blocked, and agricultural syndicates were received by the government. The protest continued into the first days of February.
The protest followed a year of extreme weather conditions and social unrest, and began with peaceful actions in October 2023.
A public opinion poll revealed massive public support for the farmers, although some environmental activists were critical of the violent actions and saw a difference in treatment compared to their own movements. 101112
Other countries
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- In Greece, farmers demonstrated during Agrotica 2024, a major agricultural fair in Thessaloniki, from 1 to 4 February. The protests were also accompanied by roadblocks.[3]
- In Italy, farmers drove in tractor convoys to Rome; in Milan, angry farmers paraded a cow through the financial district. The protests were organized by individual groups, not by Coldiretti, the main Italian agricultural lobby, which has close ties to the government.[4]
- In Romania, angry farmers and truckers blocked access roads to major cities across the country with around 4,500 trucks and tractors. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu promised to expedite legislation to meet the demands of the demonstrators.[13]