MADRID: Farmers in Spain and Poland demonstrated Friday as part of ongoing protests against European Union farming policies and to demand measures to combat production cost hikes, reduced profits and unfair competition from non-EU countries.
The actions follow similar ones in other EU members in recent weeks with farmers complaining that the 27-nation bloc's environmental and other policies are a financial burden and make their products more expensive than non-EU imports.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has made some concessions to farmers over the last few weeks, including shelving plans to halve the use of pesticides and other dangerous substances. But the protests have spread.
In Poland, farmers angered especially by imports of cheap grain, milk and other produce from Ukraine, drove tractors across the country to slow down traffic and block major roads, some displaying signs that read “EU Policy is Ruining Polish Farmers.”
”The protest is directed against the policy of the European Union, against the Green Deal and against the policy that allows for an uncontrolled inflow of farming produce from Ukraine,” Adrian Wawrzyniak, spokesman for the Solidarity Union of Individual Farmers, told The Associated Press.
He said storage warehouses are filled with Ukraine grain causing prices to fall 40% in 2023. There is lower demand for Polish sugar, milk and meat, making farmers hold off on investments.
Farmers are also concerned that the EU’s Green Deal, which calls for limiting the use of chemicals and limiting green gas emissions, will result in a reduction in production and income. They say that the EU’s requirement for 4% of farmland to be devoted to biodiversity and landscape protection will also have a negative effect on their output.
Farmers in Spain staged similar actions in their fourth straight day of protests.
Besides EU policies, Spanish farmers maintain that a law aimed at guaranteeing that wholesale major supermarket buyers pay fair prices for their goods isn't being enforced while consumer prices soar.
Friday's protests centered around the northern cities of Oviedo, Pamplona and Zaragoza, with tractors clogging several city streets and commuter roads. In many places, farmers had kept their protests going overnight.
A group not affiliated with Spain’s three main farming organizations has called for farmers to move on Madrid at midnight for a Saturday protest near the headquarters of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist party.
The demonstrations are expected to continue over the coming weeks with a major protest being organized in the capital for Feb. 21.
Several Spanish media reports have linked many of the protests to conservative and hard-right groups.
Police said that 20 people have been arrested during this week's demonstrations.
