The European Commission on Tuesday scrapped a key agricultural target from its 2040 greenhouse gas emissions-reducing road map, a move aimed at appeasing farmers in the bloc who have staged massive, weekslong demonstrations in protest of the commission’s proposal.
The changes were reflected Tuesday in the bloc’s updated emissions “road map,” which outlines the EU’s plans to reach its 90% emissions reduction target by 2040 compared to 1990 levels.
The text axed a provision that had called for a 30% emissions reduction from the agricultural sector alone. Instead, the new draft says “all sectors” will need to contribute to reducing their emissions.
By updating the text, leaders are hoping to ease up some of the burdens on farmers, who argue they have been disproportionately targeted by heavy-handed emissions regulations proposed by the bloc, as well as high equipment costs, lower wages, and competition from cheaper imported goods.
The farmers argue that they are being unfairly targeted, with other environmentally harmful industries not being hit nearly as hard by the new regulations — a complaint leaders sought to acknowledge head-on after Tuesday’s commission meeting.
In a joint statement released after the meeting, leaders said they had “discussed the challenges” to farmers and growers in the bloc, and plan to weigh different ways to achieve their ambitious reduction targets without targeting farmers in particular.
“I think it is fair to say that our farmers have shown remarkable resilience … but many challenges remain,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.
The industry, she acknowledged, “needs a worthwhile business case for nature-enhancing measures. Perhaps we have not made that case convincingly.”
“The farmers can count on European support,” von der Leyen added.
The plan is not yet final, and von der Leyen said the commission is weighing new measures that will help farmers — including efforts to better manage price fluctuations from energy and agriculture costs. Brussels has also asked EU agriculture ministers to work up a list of suggestions to present to leaders at their Feb. 26 meeting.
Farmer-led protests have spread throughout the European Union in recent weeks, drawing thousands of demonstrators in Spain, France, Greece, Poland, the Netherlands, and Romania, among others.
The groups have used massive tractor convoys to halt roadways, block border crossings, and force activity to a halt at key ports and warehouses to highlight their displeasure.
Late Monday night, farmers in the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain set fire to hay bales, tires, and other materials.
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EU leaders, meanwhile, are seeking to head off any discontent in the final months before the June 2024 European Parliament elections, and there is a growing fear in Brussels that the demonstrations could usher in a wave of populist candidates hostile to climate measures.
Peter Liese, a spokesman for the European People’s Party that represents the center-right coalition in Brussels, told reporters Monday that the commission is seeking to emphasize more “positive opportunities” for farmers rather than “new instruments that rather see the farmers as an enemy of climate policy.”
