The protests of farmers continue with their tractors invading the streets in various European countries and in Italy.
Meanwhile, Europe is moving.
The European Commission has announced a new extension of the derogation from the common agricultural policy (CAP) rule which provides that to access community aid farmers must leave certain amounts of fallow land.
This was announced by the vice-president of the community executive
Margaritis Schinas
at a press conference.
The one linked to fallow land is one of the measures to make the agri-food sector sustainable against which, however, farmers are protesting by lining up tractors on the streets of various European cities.
Agriculture Minister
Francesco Lollobrigida
recently met with representatives of the tractor movement, who came to demonstrate in front of the Verona Fieragricola.
The minister spoke with the group's spokespersons, announcing that later, after the inauguration of the fair, he will meet a small delegation of them.
"There must be no farmers against farmers" the minister repeated several times, explaining that the Government is aware of the needs of the sector.
There are around 300 demonstrators in front of the fair, while the presence of tractors is reduced to less than a dozen vehicles.
"Well,
the meeting went very well,"
Lollobrigida said briefly as she entered the Fieragricola district of Verona after speaking at length with representatives of the tractor movement.
For safety and traffic reasons, the authorities had not allowed the demonstrators to arrive in procession with all their tractors, limiting the demonstration in front of the fair to just five agricultural vehicles.
"The tractors that are on the streets across Europe have problems with the current European Commission. The von der Leyen Commission from this point of view is disastrous, on the labor and rights front."
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini
said this
during a press point in the European Parliament.
For further information Agenzia ANSA The tractor protest spreads, the EU proposal to farmers on Thursday - News - Ansa.it Macron calls Brussels, new measures for farmers are on the way (ANSA)
The farmers' protest "must be taken with the utmost attention, as a metropolitan mayor I say that the province of Florence has an important agricultural vocation and I have decided to convene the farmers' association".
This was stated by the mayor of Florence
Dario Nardella
, guest of Rai News24, underlining that "in the latest budget there is nothing in favor of agriculture".
"The cost of diesel is also an Italian issue - he added -. The excise duties that should have been cut have not been cut, this also affects the world of agriculture. I hope that the usual parties do not try to exploit it to gather some votes, I hope there are concrete proposals."
Tractor protest in France, new Attal announcements coming soon
The French Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, should express himself again ''quickly'', ''undoubtedly before the weekend'', to ''make new announcements'' to the farmers in revolt: this is what was announced by the French Minister of Agriculture , Marc Fesneau, on Sud Radio.
The minister expected in Brussels today also said that he has ''excellent hopes that the European Commission will announce exemptions'' on the obligation for land to be set aside (set aside or fallow).
Meanwhile, the Confédération paysanne union announced that it had been received this morning, at 10 am, by the prime minister in Paris.
New tractor block near Paris' Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport, France's main airport.
According to what the newspaper La Voix du Nord writes, a group of farmers from the north of the country have gathered since this morning at a checkpoint on the A1 motorway, between Paris and Lille, blocked in turn by the armored vehicles of the gendarmes just two kilometers from the large transalpine airport that connects Paris to the rest of the world.
The revolting farmers asked the gendarmes to symbolically advance them ten metres, but the police refused, maintaining their position.
Tractor protest, procession blocks the Alessandria ring road
There are just under 300 participants in the tractor parade in Alessandria organized by the coordination of the Alessandria-Asti Autonomous Farmers which, this morning, after having crossed the provincial capital, entered the ring road and blocked it.
After the walking demonstration of on Monday to the Prefecture and Province headquarters, the demonstrators moved from the garrison on the outskirts of the city, in Viale Milite Ignoto (in the Orti district), set up last Friday, to head towards the Alessandria ring road.
On the vehicles - in parade with horns blaring - tricolor flags, posters in support of Made in Italy, writings against "exorbitant costs and low earnings".
Protest continues in Sannio, farmers spend the night in the garrison
"We're not moving from here."
This is the response of the Samnite farmers who, in the aftermath of the tractor protest in the city of Benevento, decided to continue demonstrating after spending the night at the Rotonda dei Pentri, on the outskirts of the city, where they set up a garrison.
"Until we have certain and credible answers from the institutions - says Gabriele Forte, one of the spokespersons for "Riscatto agricultural" who organized the initiative - we will continue to demonstrate. People understand our protest enough to welcome us as heroes" .
Tractors, three days of protest in L'Aquila
The tractor mobilization arrives in L'Aquila with three days of demonstrations and marches by farmers gathered under the acronym of the 'Spontaneous Farmers Movement Cospa Abruzzo'.
From today until Friday there will be a static sit-in in two distinct and opposite areas of the city.
In the western area the meeting point is the car park of the Agorà commercial area (Statale, 80).
On the other side of the city, the camper area of L'Aquila Est (via Domenico D'Ascanio) was chosen.
Precisely from via D'Ascanio, a procession will start from 9.30 tomorrow which will also affect Sr 17 bis, via Panella, the roundabout at the corner of viale De Gasperi, viale Gran Sasso and piazza Battaglione Alpini (luminous fountain).
Bans and removals have been issued from today to Friday (4.30 pm) in the areas affected by the demonstrations and the procession.
Marching for the blockade of the port in Oristano
Shepherds and farmers spent their first night in front of the port of Cagliari who have been protesting against the European Union's policies on production in the Sardinian countryside since yesterday morning.
No tents, but the demonstrators spent the night under gazebos and in tractor cabs heated by a bonfire.
"We are ready for another day of battle - Giorgio Congia, one of the spokespersons of the protest, tells ANSA - we will continue with the blockades in fits and starts. And we will meet the leaders of Argea and Laore".
In the meantime, the mobilization is spreading: the tractors have reached the industrial port of Oristano, while on Friday at 10am another protest front will open in Muros, in the province of Sassari.
"We are tired - Congia reiterates - of being told by the EU how we should work. We have concrete claims on Irpef and tax credit: something was granted to us, but then it was not confirmed. And in the meantime the countryside is in crisis".
The flames from last night's fire are now out, but shepherds and farmers have already prepared another pile of wood because they intend to stay in Cagliari at least until Thursday.
In the meantime, supplies have also arrived: drinks and food are stored under a gazebo.
About twenty tractors remained on the dirt road leading to the port entrance: it will be another day of struggle.
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