Widespread protesting of “green” mandates that European farmers say threaten their livelihoods is beginning to turn the tide, with the EU backing off new green rules in response to the pressure.
The populist protests that began in France have spread to Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and other countries, Zero Hedge reported. In France, farmers used convoys of tractors and piles of burning tires to block motorways, while in Germany farmers used their large tractors to simply drive around police barricades.
NEW – Farmers encircled Paris, blocking highways to France's capital.pic.twitter.com/1GHk6PqKgx
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 31, 2024
🚨Meanwhile in Germany🇩🇪, Farmers start attempting to drive through police cordons…..
All over Europe
Are you realising the significance of this? #FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/JRSKH5GVVJ
— AntiCensorship (@truthscant) January 31, 2024
@screenshothq cap: French farmers have resorted to throwing manure on government buildings as a form of protest against high taxes levied on the agricultural sector. The 2023 French budget was published on 30th December 2022 and has proposed the doubled the tax rate on agricultural insurance policies. The tax rate on the agriculture sector has risen from 5.5% to 11% as of January 1st 2023. #france #frenchprotests #frenchfarmers #franceprotest #europe #trending #politics #protests
In response to the farmers’ mobilization, France Prime Minister Gabriel Attal offered concessions that included emergency funds and restrictions on foreign competition to protect domestic producers, per Zero Hedge. Farmers, however, deemed the offer insufficient, as the target of their anger is a broad regime of over-regulation, high taxes, and new rules based on the climate change agenda being implemented across the continent, per Armstrong Economics.
Many of these complaints arise from EU policies, some of which have yet to go into effect. On Wednesday, the supra-national organization said it was delaying some of the measures the farmers are protesting, indicating that the protests are working. That includes a rule requiring farmers to set aside 4% of their arable farmland for soil health and to increase biodiversity, pushing back the requirement to 2025, The Guardian reported.
European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič commented on the retreat, describing it as “a helping hand” for farmers who are facing difficulties, per The Guardian.
“We feel we are obliged to act under this pressure which the farming community [is feeling],” he added. “We have had a number of extreme meteorological events, droughts, flooding in various parts of Europe, and there was a clear negative effect on the output, on the revenue – and of course, decreased income – for the farmers.”
However, there are serious doubts that the limited concessions will cause the protesters to dissipate, as Šefčovič seemed to reiterate the government’s commitment to the “climate change” agenda.
“We have to make sure that Europe will become a continent which will be habitable, also, in the future,” he said.
