Roman farmers gathered in central Rome on Thursday to urge Prime Minister Giorgia Melon to provide additional support and oppose European Union policies they believe are harmful to their industry. Farmers in Poland, France, and Germany are also staging protests against low produce prices, rising expenses, cheap imports, and environmental constraints imposed by EU policies.
A group assembled in the Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo and home to Rome’s city hall, for a spirited demonstration complete with cowbells and banners, including one that read “Giorgia, listen to us!”
Farmers are an important constituency for Meloni’s right-wing coalition, which has strong ties to the main sector lobby Coldiretti. However, the current protests are being organized by smaller groups with no such connections.
“We have had no support from the government so far because it is not providing us with assistance. The government is not on our side, that’s the bottom line,” said 18-year-old protester Mattia Buzzone from Sicily.
Another protest took place later in the day near the ancient Roman arena of the Circus Maximus, which also involved a number of tractors.
Following previous demonstrations that saw tractors passing by the Colosseum and other Roman landmarks, the government agreed to partly reinstate a tax break that had been eliminated for the year 2024.
According to a draft amendment reviewed by Reuters and set to be approved in parliament, land income up to 10,000 euros ($10,770) will be exempt from taxes, with a 50% discount for land income in the 10,000-15,000 euro range.
“We deserve to be rewarded, because we face a lot of taxes…we always have to watch our spending. We can’t survive…sooner or later we will perish,” said a farmer named Daniele, who declined to provide his last name.
($1 = 0.9288 euros)
(Reporting by Angelo Amante, editing by Alvise Armellini and Keith Weir)
