Farmers drive tractors in front of government office, where they dumped manure, during a protest against European Union agricultural policies, grievances shared by farmers across Europe, in Prague, Czech Republic, March 7, 2024. REUTERS/Eva Korinkova

Europe’s restless farmers are forcing policymakers to act

Polls suggest the general population is on farmers' side; farmers lynchpins of rural economies say leaders

Reading Time: 3 minutes European policymakers have scaled back rules to protect nature, drawn up limits on the import of tariff-free Ukrainian grains and scrapped new legislation limiting pesticide use as farmers' protests resonate with voters ahead of elections.


Photo: Mlenny/iStock/Getty Images

EU envoys strike new deal on Ukraine food imports

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ambassadors from European Union countries reached a revised deal on Wednesday to extend tariff-free food imports from Ukraine - with restrictions - after some states complained the original agreement risked destabilizing the bloc's agricultural markets.




Polish farmers use tractors as they protest against the European Union’s Green Deal and imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, in Zakret, near Warsaw, Poland March 20, 2024. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel

Polish farmers intensify protests against ‘executioner’ EU

Germany proposes income smoothing to reduce farmers' taxes in face of farmer anger

Reading Time: 3 minutes Polish farmers blocked roads with tractors and flares on Wednesday in escalating protests against EU environmental regulations and cheap food imports from neighbouring Ukraine which the bloc provisionally agreed to prolong.


A man carries a Polish flag next to burning tyres, as farmers protest outside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s office against the European Union’s Green Deal and imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, in Warsaw, Poland, March 6, 2024. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

EU plan to ease farmers’ fallow land requirement stalls

Farmers have staged weeks of protests against EU environmental restrictions, cheap imports

Reading Time: 2 minutes European policymakers' plan to replace a requirement for farmers to leave land fallow with a voluntary scheme has been held up by disagreement on details, the agriculture commissioner said on Friday on a visit to Warsaw.