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EU member states Tuesday agreed to unpick more eco-friendly requirements under the bloc’s common agricultural policy (CAP) in a new bid to pacify months-long protests by farmers — who faced off with riot police in Brussels for the third time in two months.<\/p>\n
Police said they used tear gas and water cannon against farmers who targeted them with eggs and Molotov cocktails, with two officers injured in the standoff and one arrest.<\/p>\n
The CAP review was approved by a special committee as agriculture ministers met under tight security in the city’s European quarter, which farmers thronged with 250 tractors, setting fire to tyres and bales of hay.<\/p>\n
“We have listened to our farmers and we have taken swift action to address their concerns at a time when they are confronted with numerous challenges,” said David Clarinval, deputy prime minister of Belgium, which holds the rotating EU presidency.<\/p>\n
He said the revision sought to slash red tape and give farmers more flexibility in complying with green regulations while “maintaining a high level of environmental ambition” — a claim rejected by environmental groups who see it as a big step backwards.<\/p>\n
Farmers have been mounting rolling protests in countries across the EU, from Belgium to France, Spain, Italy and Poland, over a long list of burdens they say are depressing revenue.<\/p>\n
The latest in a string of concessions on agriculture come less than three months before bloc-wide elections for the European Parliament. Surveys predict the vote will result in a surge of support for far-right parties that are using farmers’ discontent as part of their campaigning.<\/p>\n
The proposal now goes before EU lawmakers for approval.<\/p>\n
– ‘Old recipes’ –<\/p>\n
The CAP review, first proposed by the European Commission in mid-March, changes a set of environmental and climate standards that determine whether farmers can receive subsidies under the policy.<\/p>\n
A key change involves granting leeway to farmers who fail to meet CAP requirements because of extreme weather.<\/p>\n
The revision does away entirely with the obligation to leave a share of arable land fallow — a measure aimed at protecting soils and promoting biodiversity but a major gripe for farmers. But they would still be incentivised to do so.<\/p>\n
Member states would have more\u00a0flexibility\u00a0to decide which soils to protect and in which season, and would be allowed to diversify crops as well as rotate them.<\/p>\n
And the revision exempts small farms under 10 hectares (25 acres) from\u00a0inspections and penalties\u00a0related to CAP compliance.<\/p>\n
France’s Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau welcomed it as a step “in the right direction.”<\/p>\n
And the powerful European farmers association Copa-Cogeca said its adoption by member states sent a “positive signal”, calling on EU lawmakers to follow suit.<\/p>\n
But a coalition of 16 environmental groups including WWF and Greenpeace declared themselves “extremely concerned”, saying the proposal was made without proper impact assessment and urging the Commission to reverse course.<\/p>\n
The review was approved with backing from a qualified majority of EU states — overriding opposition from Germany in particular.<\/p>\n
Though a frequent critic of red tape under existing CAP rules, Germany’s Agriculture Minister Cem Ozdemir said the changes signalled a step backwards — to the time before the EU made defending the environment a priority.<\/p>\n
“We won’t obtain better results by using old recipes,” Ozdemir warned. “This was a policy that considerably harmed the little guys, and that just made the big guys bigger.”<\/p>\n
jug-ec\/rlp<\/p>\n<\/div>\n