Farmer Protests Expand Across EU

Farmer protests expanded across the European Union this week. Farmers in Bulgaria and Italy blocked traffic with their tractors in the expanding movement.

The EU proposed rewriting its controversial plan to reduce pesticide use in response to the protests. The original plan has sought to reduce the use of pesticides in agriculture by 50 percent by 2030. The plan would cover farms in all 27 member states of the EU. 

Protesting farmers are also asking for protections from imports of cheaper agricultural goods, as well as shelter from higher input costs and support from the effects of a severe regional drought. 

Protesters in Bulgaria, the poorest country in the EU, argued that the war in Ukraine has depressed crop prices as Russia is selling grain below market rates to evade sanctions. 

(Bulgarian) Ventsislav Mitkov, Chairman of the “United Agricultural Producers”:  “The last two to three years have been a kind of hell for the Bulgarian farmer, we are surviving on the edge. The small and medium-sized agricultural producers in Bulgaria will be bankrupt for up to six months if there is no change: immediate payment of the delayed subsidies - and if we do not receive support because of the war in Ukraine.”

Elections for the EU Parliament are scheduled for June, and the concerns of farmers have taken center stage. The EU spends over 50 Billion Euros each year in agricultural programs and supports, and has proposed changes in agricultural practices in the union’s quest to reduce carbon emissions by 2040.

For Market to Market, I’m Peter Tubbs