France seeks change to EU nature laws in bid to appease farmers

Protesting French farmers are lobbying for changes to the European Union’s biodiversity laws, which they argue are overly restrictive and give competitors an unfair advantage. The government, under pressure, has agreed to push for a policy shift in Brussels.

A french farmer plows his field during sunset in Hermies, France, November 22, 2021. Picture taken with a drone. © REUTERS - PASCAL ROSSIGNOL

Using tractors and bales of hay, farmers have been blocking motorways across the country for more than a week, and threatening a siege on Paris.

Industry groups say government promises made on Friday to reduce state subsidies on agricultural diesel, cut red tape and ease environmental rules do not go far enough.

Their main gripe is an obligation under the EU's nature restoration law for 4 percent of farmland to remain fallow, or unused, cutting into the production capacity of the agriculture sector.

The law, which came into force last year, seeks to restore and preserve degraded habitats in the EU. It requires crop rotation, meadows, buffer strips near rivers, and the protection of wetlands and peatlands.

Under the rules, which run until 2027, member states must enforce environmental measures on a fifth of their land and sea by 2030.

Green policy ‘failing’

The nature laws form part of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which farmers in several European nations say is failing.

"Our target is not to annoy French people or to make their lives difficult, but to put pressure on the government," said Arnaud Rousseau, head of France's powerful FNSEA 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

Farming Minister Marc Fesneau on Monday promised that President Emmanuel Macron would push for more pro-farming policies at an EU leaders summit in Brussels later this week.

• EU reaches 'historic' deal on contested biodiversity law
• Why are French farmers angry and who will reap the rewards

Fesneau will also travel to the Belgian capital as part of the efforts to soften a number of EU regulations, including that of fallow land.

While farmers in Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Belgium have also taken to the streets, those in France – Europe's largest agriculture producer – complain they are being further penalised by restrictions on pesticides that are harsher than in neighbouring countries.

A recent survey showed France had lost 20 percent (101,000) of its farms between 2010 and 2020.

Rousseau has vowed that nationwide industrial action will continue "with the aim of securing emergency measures about the core of our business".