Angry Dutch farmers descend on The Hague to demand respectAPURL: https://apnews.com/f0a3d660fc8242c4bfc895280bfe7477Category: Politics
Published: October 1, 2019
Description: THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Thousands of Dutch farmers massed in The Hague on Tuesday to demand more respect for their profession, many after driving in slow-moving tractor convoys that snarled traffic around the country.
Farmers staged a national day of protest as the Netherlands wrestles with efforts to drastically reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. A broad package of measures includes a plan to grant financial aid to farmers who want to cease operations or adopt more sustainable agriculture practices. There is a lot at stake: According to the Dutch farmers’ organization, LTO, exports from the Netherlands’ nearly 54,000 farms and agriculture businesses were worth 90.3 billion euros ($98.3 billion) last year. Among the farmers’ demands are that the government does not further reduce the number of animals they can keep and for an “independent party†to measure the carbon and nitrogen emissions that farms produce. “This is about our families, our future, the future of our children. It’s about our way of life,†sheep farmer Bart Kemp, one of the protest’s organizers, told the crowd gathered in the Hague. In an emotional speech, Kemp said lawmakers “miss the common sense - farmer’s sense - that nature and animals teach us.†He appealed for a “new era in which the food producers of the Netherlands are listened to†by lawmakers. Organizers said on a website for the demonstration they also wanted to counter a “negative image†farming and farmers have in the Netherlands. They said, “we are not animal abusers and environment polluters. We have a heart for our businesses.†One of the partner parties in the country’s ruling coalition recently proposed a 50% reduction in the number of animals allowed on farms as a way to cut nitrogen emissions. Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten said no such reduction would take place as long as she held her post. She pledged to listen to the farmers’ other concerns. “We are working for a strong agricultural sector with an eye on a healthy environment,†Schouten told the farmers. The Dutch motorists association, ANWB, reported that Tuesday was the busiest ever morning on the nation’s roads, with more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) of traffic jams blamed on convoys of tractors, bad weather and accidents. Some farmers avoided the traffic by driving their tractors along the North Sea beach to The Hague. Others set off in the early hours of the morning and waited, honking their tractors’ horns, in long lines to get into the city. Police sealed off roads heading into The Hague’s historic center and arrested at least one farmer for driving his tractor through a metal fence surrounding the protest site and a second for allegedly interfering with the arrest. Cattle farmer Peter Boogards drove his tractor from the nearby village of Wassenaar to express his anger. “We’re the only sector that has managed to reduce phosphate production by 20%,†he said. “Nobody listens to us, while we stick to agreements. We don’t like that.â€
Thousands of farmers protest across GermanyAPURL: https://apnews.com/99f74d2b32b3495ba6f3616e3dc7275cCategory: Politics
Published: October 22, 2019
Description: BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of farmers are protesting across Germany against stricter environmental and climate protection requirements planned by the government that they say are threatening their livelihood.
The German news agency dpa reported that about 4,000 farmers protested on Tuesday in the western city of Bonn, 500 in Hamburg and thousands more in various places in southern and northern Germany. The farmers blocked traffic with hundreds of tractors for hours. Dpa reported that the farmers fear that planned regulations to better protect insects, wildlife and measures to keep the groundwater clean threaten the financial livelihood especially of traditional family farms. They also express frustration about a trend of so-called “farmer bashing†— negative remarks about farmers when it comes to livestock breeding or crops.
Farmers blocking Berlin roads to protest government policiesAPURL: https://apnews.com/c876438f330e4d8ea0a062f45f678c65Category: Politics
Published: November 26, 2019
Description: BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of farmers descended upon Berlin from the countryside with their tractors Tuesday, gathering at the capital’s landmark Brandenburg Gate and blocking traffic in protest over the German government’s agricultural policies.
About 10,000 farmers with 5,000 tractors drove into the city, with the first 1,800 heavy vehicles arriving from the surrounding state of Brandenburg before dawn. The farmers claim new environmental limits being planned are overly restrictive and that the government is making it impossible for domestic agriculture to compete against imports, among other things. “7.5 billion people; 200 million can feed themselves as hunters and gatherers. The rest need farmers,†read one banner, while others simply stated: “No famers, no food†and “we fill you up.†The tractors gathered in the heart of the capital, blocking wide areas of the city with slow-moving convoys on the way in with a plan to cause more disruptions on their way out at rush hour. Brandenburg police reported two accidents caused by cars trying to pass the lines of tractors on their way in to the city. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet in September decided on a series of proposals including tighter restrictions on the use of pesticides and herbicides to protect insects, and on fertilizers to protect groundwater. The country’s environment minister, Svenja Schulze, said the government is willing to talk to farmers but insisted that they, too, need to play their part in protecting the environment. “Farmers need to be part of the solution,†she told reporters in Berlin, citing the excessive levels of fertilizer in drinking water and the dramatic decline in insect numbers as issues that farmers should be concerned about. Farmers’ leaders say the government should work with them and conservation groups to find ways to protect the environment while preserving the competitiveness of farms. The environmental group Greenpeace criticized both sides, saying that Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner was trying to shift the burden onto consumers by saying they’ll have to get used to paying more for food, while the farmers needed to also help fight climate change and species extinction. “Farms need clear and reliable guidelines and targeted recommendations,†said Greenpeace’s agricultural expert Stephanie Toewe “Then they will also have the ability to operate so that the water, animals and climate are protected.â€
French farmers protest stagnant revenues, unfair competitionAPURL: https://apnews.com/7d51bbf297fb4da6bbcb7a13eb0bc12dCategory: Politics
Published: November 27, 2019
Description: PARIS (AP) — Rumbling two by two down the ring road around Paris, disgruntled French farmers drove their tractors to the capital Wednesday to protest stagnant revenues and what they say is unfair global competition.
The protest snarled traffic in the Paris area from daybreak to nightfall, as farmers from across the country attempted to use 1,000 tractors to block off access to Paris. It was among several recent farmer protests around Europe driven by growing concerns about maintaining European agricultural traditions and standards. The tractors will remain parked on the highway circling the city until French President Emmanuel Macron agrees to meet with protesters, regional farmers’ union spokesperson Elisa Despiney told The Associated Press. They could remain there for “hours, or maybe days,†she added. By mid-morning, blue and green tractors bearing signs reading “Respond, Macron!†had advanced toward the southwestern edge of the city, taking up two lanes of the highway as police escorted them on motorcycles. They then stalled on the Paris ring road, where some protesters pitched tents and lit fires. Protesters on foot inside the city, meanwhile, blocked off the Champs-Elysees and scattered hay across the famous Paris avenue. Police surrounded a group of farmers beneath the Arc de Triomphe, but the actions were peaceful. The French presidency said no meeting between Macron and a delegation of farmers was planned at this stage. However, Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume agreed to meet with a group of farmers Wednesday evening. Farmers’ grievances include free trade agreements they say put them at a disadvantage, a government reform that failed to increase their revenues, and regulations they say hinder the sector’s performance. Damien Greffin, president of the farmers’ union for the Paris region, placed the blame for farmers’ woes squarely on Macron, whom he called the “instrument of these divisions†in an interview with BFM TV. He called on Macron to rally French citizens to support agricultural workers. Farmers have specifically criticized a law passed last year that intended to bolster French agriculture. They say they haven’t seen the increased revenues the government promised. They have also condemned “agri-bashing,†or perceived public hostility toward farmers, particularly from those who criticize their use of pesticides and treatment of animals. “We’d just like to work without people constantly pointing their finger at us about the plant protection products we use, about animal welfare,†said Antoine Benoist, a 44-year-old farmer from the Essonne region. “We are the first to be careful with our future, to think about our health, the health of our children, about animal welfare.†The agriculture minister told Europe 1 radio Wednesday that he supports “their anger and their protest.†He added that “enough is enough†of “permanent denigration†and the gulf between city residents and farmers. Guillaume defended last year’s agriculture law, saying that a two-year experimentation phase is still under way and it will take time for farmers to see its benefits. The main farmers’ union has organized actions throughout the country, including a similar tractor protest in Lyon, where about 600 farmers with some 120 tractors blockaded three entrances to the city. Paris and Lyon police advised car drivers to stay off the affected roads. The demonstrations in France follow similar protests in Germany on Tuesday, when some 10,000 farmers drove 5,000 tractors into Berlin to protest the German government’s agricultural policies. Farmers in the Netherlands clogged highways last month to decry what they said was unfair blame for nitrogen pollution in the country. The new EU Commission president on Wednesday promised that farming would continue to be at the heart of the bloc. Ursula von der Leyen told the EU parliament in Strasbourg, France, that agriculture, which long absorbed half the EU budget before slowly tapering off, “will remain a valued part of our culture and our future.†She promised help for young farmers to boost their income, and insisted she would act against unfair global competition that European farmers increasingly fear will undercut domestic prices. She said that EU trading partners “must comply with EU environmental standards†if they want to import farm products.
Dutch farmers, construction workers protest pollution policyAPURL: https://apnews.com/1358ac3434ec521587273076bf9fe658Category: Politics
Published: December 18, 2019
Description: THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — From border crossings in the east to a steel factory in the west, Dutch farmers and construction workers protested Wednesday against the government pollution policies they say are driving them out of business. Farmers took to the roads in their tractors, blocking a major highway at the border with Germany. They also parked in the center of The Hague and in front of the entrance to a steel mill near the North Sea coast, Dutch police and media reported. The Dutch protests are part of a wave of demonstrations in Europe that also includes unions in France who are upset over French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform plans. Also Wednesday, opponents of legislation in Poland that would give the government the power to fire or fine judges are expected to take to the streets. The unrest in the Netherlands began earlier this year when many construction projects were halted following a Dutch ruling that the government’s policy on granting building permits breached European pollution laws. The government has been scrambling ever since to do more to rein in the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Wednesday’s protests came a day after Dutch senators approved urgent legislation to cut emissions of the pollutant nitrogen oxide. Measures include making farmers change the feed they give to livestock and extending a voluntary scheme to buy up pig farms. The new legislation, which has already been approved by the lower house of Parliament, also lowers the maximum speed limit on Dutch highways from 130 kph (80 mph) to 100 kph (62 mph). The government announced Wednesday that it had reached a broad agreement with a coalition of farming groups to tackle nitrogen oxide emissions. The Dutch government said it will hold talks with the agriculture sector on a package of investments that will enable “farmers who want to continue in a sustainable way and help farmers who want to stop voluntarily.†Farmers and construction workers who feel they are being unfairly targeted drove to a coal-fired power station and a steel factory Wednesday to underscore the fact that industry also is a major polluter. While the protests were largely peaecful, police said they had issued 24 fines to farmers for offenses including driving tractors on highways. Police closed off a major highway near Amsterdam when farmers drove tractors onto the road. Protester Jacco van den Berg told Dutch national broadcaster NOS that construction workers are prepared to take action to protect their livelihoods, which they say are threatened by measures to reduce pollution. “Something has to happen,†he said. “We’re coming up to Christmas and there are companies that won’t make it to Christmas.â€
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