Europe’s farmers taking to the streets: What will come of the recent disruptions?
Europe’s farmers taking to the streets: What will come of the recent disruptions?

Author(s): Paul O’Brien
Subject(s): Business Economy / Management, Agriculture, EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Centar za evropske politike CEP
Keywords: 2024 European farmers protests; EU agricultural policy; Serbia and Western Balkans; Agricultural impact on EU accession; Farmer unrest in Europe; EU integration challenges;
Summary/Abstract: Farmers have truly taken Europe by storm in the opening weeks of 2024, with protests erupting in most EU member states and causing ever-growing disruptions. German farmers blocked Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck from disembarking a ferry and blockaded roads and motorways throughout the country with their tractors. French farmers are targeting government buildings to express their anger in protests that are gaining in violence in some cases. Meanwhile, farmers in Poland are partaking in a lengthy general strike and the blockading of the border to neighbouring Ukraine. Even Brussels has seen its fair share of violent clashes between farmers and police officers, with officers being sprayed with liquid manure and tyres being lit on fire in some cases. With the important role agriculture plays in the accession process of new EU member states, these European developments, as well as any protests of this kind in the Western Balkans (WB), are hard to ignore. One is left to wonder whether the protests are justified and where the reasons for such extensive measures lie.

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