“The problem is not technical, the solution must be political,” says a researcher

For several weeks, farmers have been demonstrating across Europe and gathering on Thursday in front of the European Council where an extraordinary summit is planned. Sociologist Elise Roullaud analyzes European overlap within the agricultural movement.

A pillar of the European Union (EU), agriculture constitutes one of the main expenditures of its budget. Since a few weeks, Farmers’ anger spreads across Europe, particularly targeting the EU. German, Polish, Romanian and French farmers have recently been joined in their protest movement by their Belgian counterparts. Thursday, February 1, they converge in front of the headquarters of the European Council, where an extraordinary summit is taking place. VSFarmers denounce, among other things, the increase in the price of diesel, administrative overload and environmental constraints that they consider too onerous. Complaints which reflect a feeling of distrust towards decisions taken in Brussels.

Elise Roullaud, lecturer in sociology at the Catholic University of the West and author of the book Contesting agricultural Europe. The Peasant Confederation put to the test of the CAP, published in 2017, looks back at the European reasons for the revolt. According to her, “there are social and economic realities which are extremely diverse, just on the scale of France, and which are even stronger on the scale of the European area”.

Franceinfo: Why are European farmers attacking the European Union?

Elise Roullaud: The European Union, through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), is a provider of very important financial aid for French and more broadly European farmers.

“Through its Common Agricultural Policy, Europe is an important player in the daily lives of farmers.”

Elise Roullaud, sociologist

at franceinfo

This CAP is essential because of the aid it provides. Direct aid to farmers constitutes an essential part of their income for many of them. Obviously, this situation is not homogeneous, it depends on production, but for example, cattle breeders are extremely dependent on direct aid. When it comes to mobilization in which farmers highlight their income in particular, they turn to Europe because it is one of the key players in its definition.

How is the agricultural movement organized in Europe?

At European level, there are two agricultural unions. The main one is Copa-Cogeca, which brings together the most professional agricultural organizations and the most important at the national level. Then there is the European Coordination Via Campesina, which emanates from the European Peasant Coordination created in 1986.

“The difficulty for these European unions is to have a common voice, due to very diverse social and economic conditions.”

Elise Roullaud, sociologist

at franceinfo

Already, on a national scale, agricultural realities are extremely diverse, it can therefore be difficult, even for national unions, to convey a common voice to all member farmers. Copa-Cogeca and the European Coordination Via Campesina do not make the same demands. The Copa-Cogeca [présidé par Christiane Lambert, ancienne présidente de la FNSEA] is much closer to agro-industry and defends the liberalization of agricultural markets and the concentration of production. While the European Coordination Via Campesina opposes this by defending a “peasant” agriculture model, with agricultural operations throughout the territory, financial aid paid according to the number of people working on the farms and not in depending on their surface area, as well as food sovereignty.

What European aid has been put in place to help farmers?

There are two pillars in the CAP. The first pillar includes direct income support, which represents two thirds of the CAP budget. Direct income support consists of decoupled and coupled support. Decoupled aid is paid based on the surface area of ​​the farm – regardless of production – while coupled aid is attached to specific production. For example, in France, sheep, goats or even cattle over 16 months old.

Second pillar: rural development aid, which also responds to environmental issues. For example, compensatory allowances for natural handicaps are aid paid to producers who experience difficult production conditions. They also aim to support agro-environmental measures.

Is there a contradiction in wanting to reconcile environmental requirements and the necessary support for farmers?

This conciliation could not be contradictory if the CAP was clearly oriented towards aid for agro-environmental practices. However, the current CAP grants a large share to intensive agriculture. Direct aid is paid on a surface level and this tends to encourage the expansion of farms and the intensification of production. Farmers find themselves caught in tension between two contradictory injunctions: to produce more, while having to respond to environmental preservation issues. The current agricultural mobilizations reveal this tension which creates great unease among farmers.

In their demands, some farmers include the abolition of the “administrative burden” which weighs on them. Is this really the case?

Farmers actually have to carry out almost daily tasks. They must record each treatment carried out on their animals or in their fields. There is therefore a monitoring of their practices which is real and which can actually be experienced as intrusive or as a questioning of their professional knowledge.

There is also a digitalization of all this administrative work. For example, the PAC declaration is dematerialized. And this dematerialization can cause difficulties, because we have poor mastery of IT tools, because we have difficulty understanding the administrative categories which do not necessarily take into account all realities, etc. Farmers may feel the stress of making mistakes in their declarations because this CAP aid is vital for them. It is also very technical to complete a PAC declaration. Many farmers delegate this work to an accountant. These are then new financial burdens to assume.

What can the European Union change today for farmers?

The problem is not technical. National governments in the European Council and MEPs must provide a political solution. What type of agriculture do we want in Europe? Which productions for which consumption space? And above all, how can we ensure that farmers make a living from their work?

Is the situation of farmers solely “Europe’s fault”?