can the European Union resolve this crisis?

Emmanuel Macron goes to Brussels on Thursday February 1 for an extraordinary European summit devoted to financial aid to Ukraine. The French president nevertheless intends to speak with the president of the European Commission about agricultural measures.

At this stage, even if the farmers of France – like almost everywhere in Europe – continue to demonstrate, the agricultural crisis is not on the menu of the 27. While the discontent of the land professions is increasingly heard , as in Germany, Poland or France, where hundreds of tractors and other agricultural machinery are blocking strategic routes around Paris, the atmosphere will be completely different at the extraordinary European Council scheduled for Thursday February 1 in Brussels. This meeting is devoted to financial aid to Ukraine, which has been facing Moscow’s offensive for almost two years.

However, the French president will nevertheless speak on the sidelines of the summit with the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, on measures to be taken in favor of farmers.

Brussels “can and must move”

The opportunity also for Emmanuel Macron to reaffirm his resolute opposition to the free trade agreement with the South American Mercosur countries, which the Commission wants to sign. Until recent days, negotiations continued. However, this time, according to the Elysée, the message has been sent: the European Commission will put an end to the discussions, we understood in Paris. This is neither confirmed nor denied by one of the institution’s spokespersons.

Another subject of anger among farmers: the 4% of land which must be fallowed, transformed into hedges or ditches. France already proposed a rearrangement of this measure last November. Emmanuel Macron should put all his weight behind Ursula Von Der Leyen to alleviate this constraint, which came into force at the start of the year. Paris also wants to put in place specific control measures for imports of Ukrainian cereals, for example by establishing tracking of what enters the single market.

These three points of tension are indeed the responsibility of Brussels, but the French government insists that the European Commission “can and must move” on these subjects. The Élysée undoubtedly hopes to put national responsibility for the proper application of the common agricultural policy into the background for the duration of this visit… and before the European elections in June.