In the past year, Jean-Marie Dirat’s lamb farm in southwest France has seen an increase in operating costs by 35,000 euros ($38,000). This increase is due to rising prices of fertilizers, fuel, electricity, and pesticides.
The financial strain has gotten so severe that Dirat has decided not to pay himself this year. He even calculated that he would be eligible for the minimum welfare benefit meant for the poorest individuals in society.
Dirat expressed his surprise at the fact that his grandfather, with only 15 cows and 15 hectares, was able to raise a family without any problems, while he and his wife, with 70 hectares and 200 sheep, are unable to pay themselves a salary. He shared these sentiments with Reuters at a roadblock made of hay bales, blocking access to a nuclear plant.
Farmers in the French southwest, where a nationwide movement began, are voicing their dissatisfaction with red tape, water usage restrictions, and competition from Ukrainian imports allowed into the European Union to support the Ukrainian economy during the war.
Echoes of discontent are also being heard from farmers in other parts of Europe, with protests in Germany, Poland, Romania, and Belgium following a strong showing by a new farmers’ party in Dutch elections.
The blockades and pickets set up by the farmers highlight a conflict between the EU’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and its goal of increasing self-sufficiency in the production of food and other essential items following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Less than five months before the European Parliament elections, these protests are fueling a narrative that the EU is neglecting the plight of farmers who are struggling to adapt to stringent environmental regulations amidst an inflation shock.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s second-in-command, Jordan Bardella, is blaming the farmers’ hardships on “Macron’s Europe.” Le Pen herself is calling for the EU to end all free trade deals, and her party plans to block any future agreements, including those with Mercosur countries, should they come into power.
Opinion polls show that farmers’ grievances are resonating with the public, with 87% of French people showing support for the farmers’ cause, and 73% of them considering the EU as a hindrance, not an asset, for farmers.
National governments, including France and Germany, are hastily working to address farmers’ concerns, with both countries diluting proposals to end tax breaks on agricultural diesel. The European Commission has also announced new measures to address the situation.
However, the protests could potentially lead to a rise in right-wing representation in the European Parliament and pose a threat to the EU’s environmental initiatives. Poll projections indicate the formation of an “anti-climate policy action coalition” in the new legislature in June.
“The far-right’s strategy is to expand the conflict at the European level,” said Teneo analyst Antonio Barroso. “Although farmers are a small group, these parties believe they can appeal to the entire rural vote through extension.”
Political factors in various countries, from France to Romania, have fueled farmers to take action. In Germany, a week of protests against high fuel prices culminated in a rally of 10,000 farmers who brought their tractors to central Berlin and expressed their discontent towards Finance Minister Christian Lindner.
The far-right Alternative for Germany party, with a high standing in polls due to the lackluster economy, sought to gain from the situation by shifting its stance on subsidies and advocating for farmers’ demands.
In March 2023, dissatisfaction with climate and agriculture policies played a role in the new BBB party’s victory in regional elections in the Netherlands, the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter. Their list for the EU elections will be headed by Sander Smit, a former EU parliament adviser who aims to be a voice for rural areas and to campaign for a relaxation of EU restrictions on agricultural land use.
Unions in France, such as the powerful FNSEA, have brought organization to the farmers’ protests to avoid the violence that plagued the “yellow vest” protests during Macron’s first term. However, they admit that they cannot control the farmers’ voting preferences.
Historically, farmers in France have been more pro-European due to the support they have received from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, some farmers are now considering voting for Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) in protest against the EU’s climate initiatives, which they believe are hindering production and allowing space for global competitors.
“Europe is slowly letting us die,” said Pierre Poma, a retired farmer in Montauban in the southwest, who joined the RN a few years ago. He expressed his conviction that like-minded parties will hold significant influence in Brussels after June.
($1 = 0.9258 euros)
(Reporting by Michel Rose; Additional reporting by Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam, Thomas Escritt in Berlin, Kate Abnett in Brussels, and Anna Koper in Warsaw; Editing by Catherine Evans)
