After months of relative calm, the first signs of a resurgent EU farmers’ protest movement have emerged in the heartlands of southwestern France.
On 16th October, farmers gathered in Toulouse – the epicentre of the original protests nearly one year ago – for a lively demonstration, with participants reiterating calls for enhanced public fuel subsidies, climate adaptation support and market stability measures.
In the ensuing days, protests have expanded to other parts of the Occitanie region, with hundreds of local producers and trade unionists expressing their anger over “empty promises” and a “lack of concrete…measures” to tackle the sector’s hardships.
With the French movement’s leaders warning that Europe’s farmers could once again take “major action” and “paralyse” the continent in early November should the industry’s talks with the European Commission fail to produce meaningful results, this new wave could soon spread across the bloc.
Facing a new tipping point and the launch of its new strategic vision, EU policymakers should remember that they cannot afford further agri-food missteps.
Revisiting the recent past
This nascent uprising comes after massive farmers’ protests swept across the EU at the beginning of the year, with France, Poland and Romania among the member states that bore the brunt of this deep-seated discontent.
The roots of the problem – agri-food giants’ unfair commercial practices, cheap, lower-standard imports and ever-increasing regulation – have created a perfect storm of financial stress that EU policymakers have continuously failed to address.
The current situation is on a knife-edge, with French protests likely to spread to major agricultural member-states such as Spain, Germany and Italy in a fresh continental wave that could see farmers and truckers block border crossings and key trade routes.
Whether this unfolds rests entirely on the EU executive’s shoulders. After seven months of ‘Strategic Dialogue’ negotiations with the Commission, Europe’s farmers are now anxiously waiting for a response to their demands, with their decisive meeting in Brussels slated for the first week of November. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the conclusions of the Dialogue last month to initial fanfare; however, the industry’s reaction has since soured considerably.
In October, Europe’s largest agricultural trade association, Copa-Cogeca, slammed several of the Dialogue’s recommendations while decrying farmers’ weak representation in the process.
What’s more, national farmers’ unions in Italy and Germany have branded these policy proposals as “really dangerous” and falling “well short of expectations,” respectively, with representatives from the Visegrad countries particularly critical of its diet-related recommendations, creating a hostile, low-margin-for-error environment for EU policymakers ahead of November’s face-off.
Nutrition labelling’s unwelcome burden
As EU farmers grapple with unmet demands, economic strain and rising regulatory pressures, the Commission’s nutrition labelling proposal – and particularly France’s candidate for bloc-wide implementation, Nutri-Score – adds yet another unnecessary burden.
Indeed, Nutri-Score’s “outdated” approach reflects a frequent political “tendency to look for simple solutions to complex problems,” in the words of renowned French nutritionist Dr Jean-Michel Lecerf, diverting attention from the real issues at hand. Just ask the local dairy farmers in France’s Occitanie region – ground zero for Europe’s farming protest movement.
Because of Nutri-Score’s biassed algorithm – whose criteria narrowly focuses on sodium and fat content rather than a wide array of vitamins and micronutrients – producers of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheeses like Roquefort receive “red E” grades, placing them at a further competitive disadvantage while undermining vital pillars of the bloc’s gastronomic heritage. Occitanie’s farmers have rightly emphasised Nutri-Score’s failure to factor in normal portion sizes and the nutritional value of these natural products.
Carole Delga, Occitanie’s regional president, has supported the local industry, asserting that Europe “cannot rely on a Nutri-Score that is so reductive.”
Despite the Nutri-Score team’s insistence to the contrary, farmers’ arguments have been supported by leading nutritional experts across the bloc. Researchers from the Medical University of Warsaw have notably concluded that Nutri-Score’s aforementioned flaws risk misleading consumers, while French researchers have noted that its updated algorithm does not sufficiently promote the consumption of key nutrients lacking in the population.
This dubious ability to guide consumers towards healthier diets has seen a growing number of European countries, including Spain, Greece, Poland and Portugal, snub Nutri-Score – not to mention major food companies like Bjorg and Danone. To show that it is finally listening to its farmers, Brussels should take note and follow suit in abandoning the label.
Bold action to avert new crisis
With the EU preparing its new ‘Vision for Agriculture’ and legislative proposals based on the Strategic Dialogue’s outcomes, Brussels must finally deliver enhanced, holistic policy support for its farmers.
To guide its farmers through the green transition, the EU must enhance subsidies for sustainable farming practices that avoid sacrificing farmers’ livelihoods. This could include expanding funding for regenerative agriculture, crop diversification and organic farming, while also offering financial incentives for adopting climate-resilient techniques such as water conservation and precision agriculture.
By directly investing in sustainable technologies, the EU can ensure a just transition that benefits both the environment and the farming community, allowing farmers to continue playing a vital role in Europe’s food system.
Moreover, the EU should adopt market measures that strengthen farmers’ bargaining power and improve their incomes. As France and Spain suggested earlier this year – notably championed by President Macron – the EU should follow the example of its leading member states in this regulatory space and set minimum farmgate prices to prevent farmers from being undercut by large retailers.
Supporting collective bargaining efforts could equally help farmers negotiate better terms, increasing their share of retail profits.
As farmer protests reignite across Europe, EU policymakers must offer meaningful and sustained support to keep farmers competitive.
These producers are not just economic actors, but the very foundation of a healthy and sustainable food system. Ensuring their livelihoods through concrete measures while avoiding misguided regulatory burdens will be critical to preserving the strategic autonomy of Europe’s agricultural sector.
To avoid further unrest and secure a resilient future, the EU must act decisively and follow through on its commitments to European farmers.
