ANALYSIS - Europe's Farmers Still Alert Over Uncertain Green Deal Implications

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2020) The flagship European Green Deal policy, designed to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 through radical reforms in all economic sectors, continues keeping farmers perplexed about the agricultural sector's future, triggering them to protest in pursuit of greater clarity.

The end of this past week saw groups of angry farmers taking to streets in Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. They each have their own concerns about the deal's planned limitations on the way agriculture is currently conducted: in Ireland it is about beef, in Germany about grains and soy, in France about smaller farmers' mental health.

The main concern, however, is common � European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's deal envisages to eliminate some of the agricultural sector's current features not suggesting any viable replacements to keep farmers competitive vis-a-vis counterparts in other parts of the world that are not bound by the same limitations.

EU FARMERS FEAR WON'T BE ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH FOREIGN COMPETITORS

Sputnik has obtained a statement by EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski in which he says the farmers' concerns are perfectly understandable.

"Our farmers are often competing with farmers around the world that do not face equivalent standards when it comes to animal welfare, SPS [sanitary and phytosanitary measures], labour or environmental and climate requirements. In their effort to make a living, farmers are being forced to resort to ever more intensive methods of arable and stock farming, which in turn spur protests and opposition from some sections of the public opinion," Wojciechowski wrote.

French lawmakers in the European Parliament from the National Front party, Thierry Mariani and Philippe Loiseau, agree on this point, with the latter saying that agreements such as Mercosur, a free trade deal between the EU and the Latin American common market, create unfair competition as "in these countries, the norms are not respected like here and their costs are much lower than ours."

"They pile norms on norms for our products, made in Europe, but at the same time, the European Commission signs free trade treaties with continents where there is not - far from it - the same seriousness in the application of the norms and standards," Thierry Mariani said.

According to the lawmaker, the EU is "going much too far" with imposing strict norms domestically, while tolerating dubious products and procedures abroad.

"I bet you I can get any phytosanitary contract in Vietnam for 10 EUR, with all the needed stamps for export of food products in a wink. And it is true in many other parts of the world," Mariani said.

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH OLD AGRO POLICIES

Since 1962, the agricultural processes of the EU have been regulated by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), a policy that allocated funds from the EU budget to enhance agricultural productivity while also tackling climate change. Today, it has a total budget of 65 billion Euros and costs an annual 120 euros per person to nearly 500 million Europeans in subsidies to farmers.

In his statement, Agricultural Commissioner Wojciechowski has called the CAP a success of the past 60 years and a hallmark of the EU's political purpose, but admitted that "these highlights of the CAP cannot, however, mask the clouds gathering over it."

"Many farms, especially smaller family farms, have disappeared. In the last decade alone, the number of farms in the Union has fallen by 4 million, from around 14 million to around 10 million farms. This means that more than a thousand farms are disappearing every day. Land ownership is being concentrated, with just 3% of landowners now owning more than half of the European Union's farmland. Young people see no future in the countryside, they do not want to take over their parents' farms, the rural population is ageing and shrinking, with more than a third of European farmers now over the age of 65," he wrote.

The new European Green Deal was announced last fall, served as a triumphant opener of von der Leyen's term as European Commission President. The "Farm to Fork" strategy with juicy, yet not immediately clear name is in the cornerstone of the deal's agricultural rubric. It is due to be unveiled in detail in spring, but from what is known about it so far, it is going to secure the Europeans with "affordable and sustainable food" with minimum impact on nature.

In particular, the plan is to "significantly reduce" the use of fertilizers, pesticides and antibiotics in food production and make imports from third countries comply with the same environmental standards as domestic produce. The financial side of the question has 40 percent of the CAP budget and 30 percent of the maritime fisheries funds envisaged to go to climate action within the EU budget for 2021-2017.

FARMERS EXPECT 'DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS'

"The Commission has announced a period of 100 days during which they will come with specific proposals and will discuss them with us and other stakeholders, so we think the process is correct. Of course, the devil is in the details, so it will be tough on some points," spokesperson for the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organizations - General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives (COPA), Jean-Baptiste Boucher, told Sputnik.

According to the unionist, protests across Europe reflect not so much criticism of the Green Deal per se, but rather concerns about how the ensuing changes in individual national legislation is going to affect farmers.

In France, for example, Philippe Loiseau tols Sputnik that a major decrease of subsidies for farmers is expected to ensue from the reviewed CAP � from 9 billion euros [$10 billion] to 8.3 billion euros � while the Eastern European countries will likely see their farming subsidies increase.

Uncertainty around the Green Deal has been felt acutely by German farmers, Stephan Protschka, lawmaker from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) told Sputnik.

"Domestic German agriculture is currently under enormous economic and social pressure. A reliable political framework is now needed. What sense does it make now to frantically wave through the urgent challenges, such as the topic of fertilizer regulation, and only then think about a long-term strategy? The farmers need planning and investment security. To do this, you need to know in a timely manner where the journey is going," he said.

According to Protschka, without well-grounded science-based explanation, "every renewed tightening of the fertilizer regulation appears like hectic 'green' activism and over-regulation."

"The Federal government is jeopardizing the existence of thousands of farmers. They regularly protest and demonstrate, against the renewed tightening of the fertilizer regulation for example, which would accelerate the death of many farms very much. Today, German farmers are suffering enormously from the huge bureaucracy and the deluge of regulations by the EU, by federal and state governments. As a result, more than half of the farms can only be farmed as a side occupation and more and more farmers have to close forever," the German lawmaker said.

WITH BIGGER TASKS, BIGGER SUPPORT SHOULD COME

Judging from Commissioner Wojciechowski's statement, it is generally understood among the EU competent bodies that tasking farmers with championing the major agricultural transformation comes alongside the responsibility to safety net them from possible shocks.

"We are expecting farmers to bring down CO2 emissions, reduce air pollution, make less use of artificial fertilisers and plant protection products, and farm more sustainably. All these requirements are necessary. We need and want an agriculture that is more environment- and climate-friendly in Europe, and we want animal welfare. All these things, however, come at a cost," he wrote.

That such measures will inevitably lead to higher production costs and less income for farmer is well-understood as well, he continued.

"This prospect is already meeting widespread opposition from farmers in some countries. Farmers are not opposed to concern for the environment, the climate or animal welfare. Europe's farmers just do not want to bear the entire cost on their own. Increased responsibilities for farmers should be accompanied by increased support," Wojciechowski wrote.

With this understanding in place, it remains to see whether the Deal's forthcoming details succeed in soothing the protests and winning farmers' support.