Hundreds of tractors paralyze the center of Brussels on Monday, on the sidelines of a meeting of Agriculture Ministers of the Twenty-Seven paving the way for simplifications of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
As on February 1, the Belgian capital once again became the epicenter of agricultural anger: some 900 agricultural vehicles were counted by the police.
The latter used water cannons to extinguish the fires lit by the demonstrators, giving rise to sometimes tense confrontations.
Alongside Belgian organizations, delegations from Spain, Portugal and the powerful Italian Coldiretti confederation are present near a Council blocked by police roadblocks.
Anxious to defuse discontent, member states demanded from the European Commission a plan to
“simplify”
the CAP rules.
Brussels presents its first ideas on Monday.
After an exemption already approved for fallow land, the obligations to maintain permanent meadows should thus be relaxed this year for breeders undergoing reconversion.
Several states are also asking for flexibilities on crop rotation obligations.
A tolerance would be granted to farmers not respecting the requirements of the CAP due to climatic episodes.
Finally, reporting requirements would be reduced and use of satellite imagery would help reduce
inspection visits
“by up to 50%” .
But beyond these short-term measures, which the European executive could ratify quickly, Brussels opens the door to
"medium-term"
legislative revisions of the CAP, in negotiation with States and MEPs, to modify certain criteria and
“reduce the load”
.
In the immediate future,
“we need something pragmatic, operational (...) there is space (for modifications) within the current rules
,” said French Minister Marc Fesneau at his office. arrival in Brussels.
“But there are things that require modifying the basic act (of the CAP legislation). Whether this legislative change spans the European elections (in June) does not matter. The important thing is that we are moving forward (...) We need to set a trajectory, to lay the foundations for a CAP which will reassure
in the long term, he insisted.
At the same time, Paris is calling for the reopening - through amendments in the European Parliament - of legislation governing emissions from poultry and pig farms, after an agreement reached in December between States and MEPs.
“Bureaucratic monster”
“There is a lot of anger over broken promises: this is an opportunity for necessary reforms, the current CAP is a bureaucratic monster. Work in the fields rather than paperwork must be the order of the day
,” declared German Minister Cem Özdemir.
But without
“false solutions”
:
“We must ensure that we can make money with biodiversity (...) Anyone who says that we must take a break from climate protection is anything but a friend of farmers”
, he warns, while the specter of an unraveling of ecological obligations looms.
On the sidelines of the Agricultural Show in Paris, Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said on Sunday he was open to simply making
green bonds such as fallow land or crop rotation
“incentivizing” .
A review of agricultural policy
“is a good thing”
in order to
“better remunerate”
farmers, adds his Belgian counterpart David Clarinval, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, while recalling that the Commission will also propose
“in March”
measures outside the CAP, possibly on
“price formation”
in the market.
“There are also elements (of environmental legislation) of the Green Deal which are requested from farmers but which are not paid, this is the heart of the problem
,” added Mr. Clarinval.
However, the organizations demonstrating on Monday consider the outlined measures insufficient.
In particular, they demand a
“definitive end”
to trade negotiations with the South American Mercosur countries, and a
“better sharing of value”
with manufacturers and distributors.
“A project larger than the small relief on administrative costs”
, recognizes Vincent Delobel, goat breeder and administrator of the Walloon union Fugea, denouncing
the “economic vice”
between the inflation of costs (fertilizer, energy) and the fall sales prices.
“We can't make a living from it, the PAC bonuses are on hold
. ”
Another reason for anger: Brussels proposed measures to restrict Ukrainian imports, now discussed in the European Parliament, but without satisfying the agricultural sector.
The subject remains explosive in Poland, where farmers are blocking border crossings and dumping Ukrainian cargo on the roads.