With their tractors, around three hundred French and Spanish farmers blocked the border toll at Biriatou, in the Basque Country, on Thursday March 7 to issue an “ultimatum” to the European Union (EU) for “totally tax-free production energy “. Gathered since midday at the toll gate, on both sides of the border, after having carried out snail operations, the farmers delivered their common demand, without brandishing union banners. They are giving the EU until June 1 to achieve a “zero tax” on gas, electricity, diesel and RNG (non-road diesel).
The tractors, on which slogans like “More income” or “Farmer, child we dream, adult we die”, were displayed on the highway for several hours, leaving one lane of traffic open, before a return to snail operation planned for the end of the afternoon.
Farmers in several European countries including France, Spain, Germany, Greece and Poland have massively mobilized for weeks or continue to do so, protesting against competition that they consider unfair from countries outside the European Union, who are therefore not subject to the same rules, and against a bureaucracy and standards that they consider too heavy.
They also denounce purchase prices that are too low for their production within the framework of the common agricultural policy (CAP), and a lack of aid for the sector. In France, the head of the majority agricultural union, the FNSEA, relayed on Sunday the expectations of farmers, namely “very concrete achievements” after the government’s promises, by threatening new “actions on the ground”.
Demonstration in Prague against the Czech government and the EU
Separately, hundreds of tractors disrupted traffic in the historic center of Prague, Czech Republic, on Thursday during a demonstration by farmers protesting against austerity policies and excessive bureaucracy. A protester was arrested after dumping a truckload of manure in front of the government building.
Protesters called on the government to support rural employment and abandon austerity measures, including taxes on European Union subsidies. They also complained about high production costs, excessive bureaucracy, European environmental legislation and grain imports from Ukraine.
The crowd in front of the Czech government building was smaller than expected by the Agrarian Chamber, a trade union, which had expected 4,000 demonstrators and 1,000 tractors and other agricultural machinery. Thousands of angry farmers also gathered in Warsaw, in neighboring Poland, on Wednesday to denounce European regulations and the cheap nature of imports from Ukraine.