By Yves Herman and Marco Trujillo
February 1, 2024 8:01 AM PST
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Two of France’s main farming unions on Thursday urged protesters who have staged hundreds of tractor blockades across the country to go back home, after the government announced measures to try to quell the anger in a movement that has spread across Europe.
While some local grievances vary, the unrest, also seen in Belgium, Portugal, Greece and Germany, has exposed tensions over the impact on farming of the EU’s drive to tackle climate change, as well of opening the door to cheap Ukrainian imports to help Kyiv’s war effort.
Farmers’ complaints across Europe include being choked by green rules, taxes, rising costs and unfair competition from abroad.
The frustration came to a head in Brussels earlier in the day, where farmers threw eggs and stones at the European Parliament, and started fires and set off fireworks as they demanded EU leaders at a summit nearby do more to help them.
“We want to stop these crazy laws that come every single day from the European Commission,” Jose Maria Castilla, a farmer representing the Spanish farmers’ union Asaja, said in Brussels.
With the call from some of the French unions, the question now is whether farmers will they lift their blockades in France – and what will happen to protests that have spread across Europe.
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