For months, Europe has been rocked by protests as farmers decry high costs and low prices, in addition to what they call unfair competition from Ukraine, and the constraints of environmental regulations. EU elites are worried that the farmers' movement will boost anti-establishment parties in the European elections this June. The EU Commission has put forward proposals to ease the burden on farmers, but environmental groups say this is a short-term political tactic that undermines elements of the EU's own Green Deal – and will ultimately lead to more climate chaos for everybody, including farmers. We unpick this with the EU's Agriculture Commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowski.
We begin with the recent limitations on certain Ukrainian food imports into the EU – a measure aimed at quelling the farmers' protests, but also one that has led to deep disappointment in Ukraine. We also ask whether EU restrictions on Ukrainian wheat – a key export for the war-torn Ukrainian economy – could be activated in the future. This is something the EU has not ruled out.
