Summary of the day
Farmers continued protesting in multiple European countries as politicians grapple with how to respond ahead of European elections in June.
In Spain, thousands of tractors blocked roads across the country.
Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission executive vice-president, told MEPs during a plenary debate on agriculture that there is a need for a “future where farming and nature go hand in hand in balance.”
He acknowledged the current polarisation and said it’s imperative to bring all stakeholders together to define a common vision.
Manfred Weber, head of the centre-right European People’s party group, said “we are in favour of protecting the environment, but together with farmers, not against them.”
Iratxe García Pérez, president of the Socialists and Democrats group, said "the far right is looking “to renationalise agriculture, which would be devestating for European farms.”
Tilly Mets, a Green MEP, said the groups calls “on the Commission to launch an investigation into how powerful agri-food oligopolies impact farmers’ incomes and propose guidelines for an agri-food windfall tax.”
Copa and Cogeca, the European farming lobby, responded to the debate, saying “most of what was said was a political blame game, but not enough was said about solutions for the future of the sector.”
The group adde that “it’s time to listen to those who work the land on a daily basis and who have experience in the field, farmers and their cooperatives. And that goes for both before and after the elections.”
Spain’s opposition conservative People’s party (PP) accused prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s socialist-led coalition government of putting “environmental dogmatism” before farmers’ needs.
The Spanish prime minister defended his government’s record on farming and the countryside in very robust terms, saying the opposition is “like methanol - colourless, highly flammable and very toxic”.
Greenpeace has criticised the European parliament vote today on new genomic techniques (NGTs).
Greenpeace campaigner Eva Corral said:
Members of the European Parliament have failed in their duty to protect people’s health, the environment and the future of European farming.
European farmers will pay a high price, becoming increasingly dependent on a few seed firms, and risk getting sued by the multinationals who own patented GMOs.
With no credible proof that new GMOs can withstand the impacts of climate change, growing corporate control in the food system means farmers could find it harder to access and develop climate resilient, locally-adapted plants.
