Protesting farmers share table with EU leaders
Von der Leyen, Rutte and De Croo chat with farm
lobbies after EU summit.
FEBRUARY 1,
2024 6:52 PM CET
BY PAULA
ANDRÉS
https://www.politico.eu/article/protesting-farmers-sit-table-eu-leaders-von-der-leyen-de-croo-rutte/
Farmers who
descended on Brussels to disrupt a leaders' summit finally got their moment
with senior EU figures on Thursday evening.
European
Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen met with farm lobby organizations
after the summit, alongside Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo and Dutch
Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Farmers’
protests have erupted across Europe in recent weeks, triggered by falling
incomes, free-trade agreements and overall dissatisfaction with EU and national
policies.
“We listen
to European farmers ... We are addressing short-term challenges,” von der Leyen
posted on X during the meeting.
Earlier
Thursday, von der Leyen told a news conference that the Commission would work
with the Belgian presidency of the Council on a proposal to cut the
administrative burden on farmers ahead of the next meeting of EU agriculture
ministers.
She also
reiterated that the EU executive will “address the structural challenges faced
by the sector in our Strategic Dialogue” — an initiative she pitched during her
annual State of the Union speech in September to make agricultural policy more
inclusive.
“Not only
in the Netherlands, but everywhere in Europe, farmers are faced with a lot of
pressure,” Rutte said. “We must work together to achieve nature goals and
combat climate change [and] maintain a strong farming sector that produces food
for all of us.”
“The EU
must now come up with concrete and pragmatic responses, far from the ideology
and dogmatism developed by the European Commission in recent years,” EU farming
lobby Copa-Cogeca said ahead of the meeting.
Also
present at the meeting were the European young farmers organization CEJA, plus
Walloon and Flemish farming organizations.
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