Right-wing parties are taking advantage of the anger. The example of France shows how this can work.
What's happening in France helps explain how this situation came to be in Europe - and what might come next. There is no single reason why years of simmering unrest escalated into a dramatic period in France. There are as many nuisances as there are agricultural unions, associations and interest groups - so there is a lot of anger.. In a year with important elections in both Europe and the United States, the farmers' revolt could be a harbinger of a sharp shift to the right. In the Netherlands, anger over a proposal to meet EU nitrogen pollution targets by reducing livestock numbers contributed to a farmers' party's surprise first place finish in last year's provincial election. In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) overlooked the fact that its party program called for the abolition of subsidies. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told farmers protesting there: “It is a European mistake that the voice of the people is not taken seriously"