European Farmer Actions

In early January, farmers' protests started to appear in Europe. Farmers with hundreds of tractors blocked highways in many countries, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, and Romania. They tried to make their voices heard by the political authorities. 

On February 1, farmers reacting to the agricultural policies of the European Union (EU) blocked the roads with 1,200 tractors to the European Parliament building in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

Since the issue also concerns Türkiye regarding its consequences, it is worth examining why European farmers are so angry.

In 1957, when the Treaty of Rome was signed, and the EEC (European Economic Community) was established, France, not wanting its economy and agricultural sector to be crushed under the German industry, asked for increased subsidies for farmers by utilizing community resources. Of course, these high subsidies were to be applied to French farmers and to the agricultural sector of all member states. Since then, high agricultural subsidies have helped people in EU countries easily access basic foodstuffs such as cheese, milk, bread, and pasta, thus contributing to social welfare.

By the 1990s, EU countries had begun dismantling heavy industrial factories, which they considered "dirty and polluting," and moved them to less developed countries. However, they intended to live in peace with the agricultural sector. Because "sustainable agriculture" not only contributed to a high level of social welfare but also caused "food security problems."

With the "Paris Climate Agreement" signed in Paris in 1915, every country that signed the Agreement began to make commitments that efforts would be made to prevent the global temperature increase by no more than 1.5- 2 degrees Celsius. Within 20-30 years, fossil fuels will be phased out, and "clean energy" will be introduced.

As we entered the 2020s, we observed that the old "honeymoon months" among EU members began to end. First, the COVID-19 pandemic, then the Suez Canal problems, then the Russia-Ukraine War, and finally, the Israel-Palestine War began to change all the balances and priorities in the world. After 70 years, Europe, which had not experienced war on its borders since 1945, started to have security concerns again. Finland and Sweden immediately applied for NATO membership. The EU, on the other hand, had limited resources. When the question arose of prioritizing security or agricultural subsidies, the natural choice was "security." This meant transferring resources of farm subsidies to security spending.

The Russia-Ukraine war also hurt agricultural costs by increasing oil prices. For farmers, fuel price hikes were not the only problem but also the need to fulfill their "Green Deal" commitments.

The "Farm to Table Agriculture Strategy," a sub-strategy of the Green Deal, aimed to build a food value chain ecosystem, expand organic farming, reverse biodiversity loss, ensure food security, and protect nutrition and public health.

In this context, 

• Significant reduction in the use of chemical pesticides (50%), fertilizers (20%), and antimicrobials (50%) in agriculture,
• Development of organic farming (50% of farm area), 
• Enabling food tracking for consumers (Sustainable food labeling framework),
• Reducing food waste by half, 
• Replacing conventional tillage systems with electric tractors by installing 1 million charging points by 2030, 
• Reduction of packaging systems, 
• It was aimed to map the supply chain according to the immediate environment.,

Both the binding provisions of the EU's new agricultural strategy have made agricultural production more complex, with carbon emission quotas being reduced year by year and farmers being directed to use so-called clean energy- nitrogen and hydrogen- instead of relatively cheap petroleum-derived fuels which have put farmers in a severe bind. Most recently, the implementation of a court ruling on nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands in 2019 and government attempts to close down farms that do not comply with the new policies and reduce the number of livestock on them have led to angry farmer protests.

We saw a slight echo of these protests in Türkiye. On February 7, farmers in Konya marched in a convoy of 200 tractors in front of the Seydibey Potato Factory to protest against the factory management for shifting the production quota to another district. This protest was inevitably interesting as it showed that the reflex to seek rights through democratic means has not yet been completely erased from the DNA of Turkish farmers.

            In a way, European farmer actions also offer new opportunities for Türkiye. High minimum wages in EU countries give Turkish businesses an advantage in all areas of agriculture. It is undeniable that Turkey has a comparative advantage in agricultural production, with 6-7 months of full sunshine compared to Northern European countries with short summers that last no more than 1-2 months a year. In particular, they are adopting the principle of "mapping the supply chain according to the immediate environment" as an EU agricultural strategy puts Türkiye in a more advantageous position. 

In other words, flour, oil, sugar, and fire are all in our country. Success depends on keeping the entrepreneurial spirit alive to make the halva.