File photo of barley being loaded off the combine. (Collab Media/iStock/Getty Images)

EU plans to hit Russia, Belarus grain imports with tariffs

Commission aims to curb Russian income, prevent market distortions, placate farmers

The European Commission proposed on Friday imposing tariffs on imports of grain from Russia and Belarus in an attempt to prevent Moscow and its ally from distorting EU markets and placate farmers who have protested for months over cheap imports.

Polish farmers use tractors as they protest against the European Union’s Green Deal and imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, in Zakret, near Warsaw, Poland March 20, 2024. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel

Polish farmers intensify protests against ‘executioner’ EU

Germany proposes income smoothing to reduce farmers' taxes in face of farmer anger

Polish farmers blocked roads with tractors and flares on Wednesday in escalating protests against EU environmental regulations and cheap food imports from neighbouring Ukraine which the bloc provisionally agreed to prolong.

A man carries a Polish flag next to burning tyres, as farmers protest outside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s office against the European Union’s Green Deal and imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, in Warsaw, Poland, March 6, 2024. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

EU plan to ease farmers’ fallow land requirement stalls

Farmers have staged weeks of protests against EU environmental restrictions, cheap imports

European policymakers' plan to replace a requirement for farmers to leave land fallow with a voluntary scheme has been held up by disagreement on details, the agriculture commissioner said on Friday on a visit to Warsaw.

French farmers drive their tractors on a highway as they protest over price pressures, taxes and green regulation, grievances shared by farmers across Europe, in Longvilliers, near Paris, France, January 29, 2024. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

EU leader proposes policy shift as farmers protest

Rules "create a risk for EU food security" agriculture commissioner says

The EU should change conditions imposed on farmers who wish benefit from Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) funding, European Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said in an interview with French newspapers of the Ebra group.


Farmers gather outside the Basque regional parliament in front of riot police during a protest over price pressures, taxes and green regulation, grievances shared by farmers across Europe, in Vitoria, Spain, February 8, 2024. REUTERS/Vincent West

Tractors choke Spanish city streets as farmers protest EU policy

Spain's government, EU distribute additional subsidies, scrap plan to halve pesticide use

Spanish farmers drove tractors through city streets, disrupting traffic on Thursday as they stepped up their protests against soaring costs, bureaucracy and cheap competition from outside the European Union.

French farmers drive their tractors on a highway as they protest over price pressures, taxes and green regulation, grievances shared by farmers across Europe, in Longvilliers, near Paris, France, January 29, 2024. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

EU recommends ambitious 2040 climate target, goes light on farming

In face of farmer protests, EU weakens some recommendations related to agriculture

The European Commission recommended on Tuesday that the EU slash net greenhouse gas emissions by 90 per cent by 2040, an ambitious target that will test political appetite for the region's fight against climate change ahead of EU elections.

Protesters lead a cow on a street in downtown Milan as people protest against European agricultural policies, next to the Regional Council of Lombardy in Milan, Italy February 5, 2024. REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Italy’s farmers head to Rome in tractor convoy protest

Protests in France, Germany eased; farmers blocked Dutch-Belgian border

Italian farmers protesting about red tape and cheap imports from outside the EU headed towards Rome in convoys of tractors on Monday, while their colleagues in the north led a cow through the streets of Milan.