French President calls for European measures in favor of farmers

French President Emmanuel Macron this Thursday called for European measures in favor of farmers who have organized protests in several countries, such as a “significant” simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy and the creation of special forces to “avoid” “unfair competition” between member states.

“We need to fight a European fight,” the official says, arguing that “a stronger and more concrete Europe is needed to protect the incomes” of farmers, as well as “a sharp reduction in bureaucracy and complexity.”

At a press conference after the extraordinary European summit in Brussels, which approved a €50 billion bailout for Ukraine, the French leader defended “concrete and tangible simplifications” from the end of this month and guaranteed that “Europe is not deaf”, that “The challenge is enormous” but there are ways to respond after France’s main agricultural union, FNSEA, accused Brussels of being “tone deaf” in the face of farmers’ expectations and demands.

Macron also called for the creation of a “European health and agricultural surveillance force” to ensure that community rules are applied equally and with “uniform oversight.”

The French President noted that it was necessary to take into account that large European shopping centers do not bypass the rules, and his Prime Minister Gabriel Attal asked him to implement specific “answers” ​​in favor of simplification “at the latest at the Agricultural Show.” , which starts on the 24th.

Another issue discussed was the exchange of views with Ukraine, noting that mechanisms to curb large imports of poultry, sugar and eggs would be extended to cereals, which is a demand from the grain sector in France.

This “enhanced protective mechanism” will allow “intervention” in the event of price destabilization within the European Union, when customs duties exceed certain “ceilings”.

The French president was also happy to ensure that the controversial trade agreement between the EU and Latin American Mercosur countries was not “hastily concluded, as some have threatened.” “Because we raised our voices, because we were inconsistent,” he concluded.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte met with farmers’ representatives to discuss the sector’s challenges, this Thursday at a fair where several European Union (EU) countries, including Portugal , there were protests by farmers.

The three European leaders met with representatives of Copa Cogeca, the European Agricultural Confederation that represents more than 22 million farmers and 22,000 cooperatives, with the community leader mentioning on her social media account X (formerly Twitter) that the agricultural sector could “count on European support “

“We are dealing with short-term problems and structural problems” facing farmers, Ursula von der Leyen also said.

The European Commission, as part of Belgium’s six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, will prepare a proposal to reduce the administrative burden for farmers, which will be discussed by the agriculture ministers of the 27 member countries of the European bloc on February 26.

“I am very sensitive to reports that farmers are concerned about administrative burdens,” Von der Leyen also said in statements following an extraordinary meeting of the European Council in Brussels today.

Meanwhile, the majority of French agricultural unions today called for the blockade of the country’s roads to be lifted.

“The movement does not stop, it transforms,” Arnaud Rousseau, president of the National Federation of Agricultural Unions (FNSEA), said at a press conference.