Two years ago, the 2022 Special Eurobarometer on agriculture and the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) revealed that a majority of respondents in 25 out of the 27 EU member states thought that the CAP ensured a fair standard of living for farmers.
However, since the start of this year, we have seen farmers from across Europe, protesting against economic and environmental policy and regulation, in addition to other country specific grievances, which they deem to negatively impact their futures and livelihoods.
They caused major disruptions and caught a lot of media attention by driving their tractors into major cities and blockading motorways throughout Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Spain, Greece, Italy, Lithuania and Romania. One of the most prominent moments of upheaval occurred earlier this year, on 1 February in Brussels, when farmers from across Europe gathered in the city on the same day the EU heads-of-state and government were meeting at the European Council.
The 2022 Special Eurobarometer SP520: Europeans, Agriculture and the CAP and the Autumn 2023 Standard Eurobarometer 100 provide us with interesting insights into the views of citizens across the EU on matters raised by the farmers.
Food Inflation vs Production Cost
A central issue behind farmers’ convictions is that governments and retailers are driving down food inflation. This is leaving farmers increasingly unable to cover the costs of production such as energy, fertiliser and transport.
In the Autumn 2023 Standard Eurobarometer, when asked what the most important issue respondents were facing personally, the top answer given in 25 out of 27 EU member states was ‘Rising prices inflation cost of living’.
Yet, in the 2022 Special Eurobarometer focusing on agriculture and the CAP, most respondents in 26 member states also agreed that the CAP ensures reasonable food prices for consumers. The exception being Greece, where more people disagreed than agreed with this statement (60% to 39%).
The EU spends approximately 30% of its total budget to provide financial support to farmers to help stabilise their income. According to the 2022 Special Eurobarometer, 46% of respondents believed that the support given was ‘about right’. In addition, 56% of respondents in the EU believed that this should increase over the next 10 years. Notably, Denmark and Hungary were the only countries that did not agree with this view, where the largest proportion of people stated there should be ‘no change’ in the level of financial support (44% and 48% respectively).
Competition and Imports
European farmers have also raised concerns over unfair competition coming from imports. This frustration has been provoked by the EU granting waivers on import quotas and duties for Ukraine’s grain since the beginning of the war, as well as the EU’s renewal of negotiations around the Mercosur trade deal.
In the 2022 Special Eurobarometer, respondents were asked whether the EU should remove trade barriers on imports of agricultural products, regardless of their origin. 42% agreed with this statement compared to 50% who disagreed. In only eight countries did the majority of respondents agree with this statement.
Over 9 out of 10 respondents (93%) stated that it is important for the CAP to prioritise ensuring a secure and stable supply of food across the EU. However, when asked if they considered it important to buy food products which are ‘part of a short supply chain’, 87% of respondents said yes.
European Environmental Regulation
The last issue farmers have been protesting about recently, is the environmental regulation imposed by the EU on food production through the Farm to Fork strategy of the European Green Deal.
An average of 16% of respondents across the EU thought that ‘the environment and climate change’ was one of the most important issues facing the EU currently, as revealed in the latest Autumn 2023 Standard Eurobarometer. This was the fourth most selected option, coming after ‘rising prices/inflation/cost of living’ (20%), ‘the international situation’ (24%), and ‘immigration’, and ‘the war in Ukraine’ (both at 28%).
In the 2022 Special Eurobarometer respondents were asked what they thought the main objectives of the EU should be in terms of agriculture and rural development policy. The fourth most given answer, by 50% of respondents, was ‘Protecting the environment and tackling climate change’. Above this was ‘Ensuring a fair standard of living for farmers’ (54%), ‘Ensuring reasonable food prices for consumers’ (55%), and ‘Providing safe, healthy and sustainable food of high quality’ (60%).
Data taken from the Special Eurobarometer SP520: Europeans, Agriculture and the CAP and the Autumn 2023 Standard Eurobarometer 100.
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