Radical farmers rally in Brussels calling for overhaul of EU green agenda

Over a thousand farmers from at least nine European Union countries gathered on the outskirts of Brussels, on Tuesday 4 June, protesting against European environmental rules and trade agreements, just days before voters head to the polls.

The demonstration felt more like a farming-themed festival than a protest, the latest in a series of large-scale actions that swept across all member states since early 2024.

The organisers confirmed to Euractiv on Tuesday morning that over 5,000 people were to attend the protest, but only 1,200 showed up, according to the police.

Within hours, Atomium Park was filled with over 500 tractors, mostly from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Many displayed anti-EU messages, loudly blaring their horns, and playing popular tunes like ‘Baby Shark’.

In a festive atmosphere, farmers mingled around the main stage, which played German techno hits throughout the morning, while enjoying fries and beers, from food trucks parked nearby.

Next to the stage was a stand selling merchandise from the Farmers Defence Force (FDF), a hardline agricultural group founded in 2019 in response to animal activists’ demonstrations in the Netherlands and the organiser of Tuesday’s rally.

Most Dutch and Belgian attendees, some as young as 16 years old, displayed the organisation’s logo: two crossed digging forks against a blue shield.

Other participating farming unions included France’s Coordination Rurale, Italy’s Agricoltori Italiani, Germany’s LSV, Spain’s Plataforma 6, and Poland’s Solidarność. Some of these groups are known for their links with far-right political parties.

The EU’s most influential farming lobby, COPA and COGECA, including the EU’s largest national organisations, such as Italy’s Coldiretti, French FNSEA, and Spanish ASAJA, did not participate in the protest.

Land “warriors”

While the media often links the Farmers Defence Force (FDF) with far-right ideology, particularly for their militant language referring to farmers as “warriors” and “defenders,” Jos Ubels, the vice president of the FDF and a Dutch farmer, insists otherwise.

“We are not left or right. We are just opposition,” Ubels told Euractiv.

He criticised the European Green Deal, particularly the Nature Restoration law, blaming them for hardships in the agricultural sector.

Contrary to his claims, the Nature Restoration law has neither been approved nor enforced yet in Europe, as it still needs the green light from member states.

“I think it’s very dishonest to say we save the climate by cutting down production,” he added.

Though praising the relaxation of some green requirements under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), following farmers’ protests, he urged politicians to do more.

“[Politicians] see that there is real distress amongst farmers (…) but they need to move more to save the farms,” Ubels said, urging the bloc to abandon its climate ambitions and “rigid legislation.”

“We want to show the rest of Europe that they have to vote differently next week,” he emphasised.

Protesters voiced both national and European concerns. Farmers from the Netherlands particularly opposed the previous Dutch government’s plans to buy out farms to reduce livestock numbers and comply with EU rules on nitrogen emissions.

Meanwhile, Damian Murawiec, a Polish cereal farmer from the grassroots group OOPR, spoke to Euractiv about the negative impact of Ukrainian grain imports in 2022 and 2023.

The Pole criticised the Green Deal and EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, a fellow countryman, for his role in the EU’s flagship climate and environmental policy.

“Wojciechowski did a lot of bad things to European farmers, and we are not happy that he was Commissioner,” said Murawiec

A pre-election stunt

The gathering quickly became a pre-election rally, with far-right politicians urging citizens to “vote out” mainstream groups from the European Parliament.

“We need all EU-critical voices to reverse what has been damaged the last five years,” said Dutch member of European Parliament (MEP) Rob Roos, independent from the nationalist right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, describing EU policymakers as “climate communists.”

Anna Mirosława, a politician from Poland’s far-right Konfederacja party running for MEP, also condemned the EU’s “radical climate policy” and “open borders” for food products from non-EU countries.

Some of the speeches touched on conspiracy theories, including disinformation about insect-based foods and anti-vaccine messages.

Meanwhile, environmental groups said Tuesday’s demonstration misrepresents the agricultural sector.

Leif Miller, director of the German green NGO, NABU, argues that the FDF’s proximity to right-wing populism “does not cast a good light on the profession they claim to represent.”

According to Miller, the agricultural sector “is now shooting itself in the foot” by advocating for reduced bureaucracy at the expense of environmental protection.

However, a FDF spokesperson, Sieta van Keimpema, said the environmentalists’ concerns were “hysterical.”

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and Rajnish Singh]

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