Heads of state and governments of the European Union
Ladies and Gentlemen,
in art. 3 section 3 of the Treaty on European Union, we can read that the European Union “shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy.”
Moreover, in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the EU conducts the Common Agricultural Policy, the aim of which is, among other things, to ensure “an adequate standard of living for the rural population, in particular by increasing the individual income of people working in agriculture.” The European Union declares that when establishing the common agricultural policy, “the specific nature of the agricultural economy resulting from the social structure of agriculture and structural and natural differences between individual agricultural regions” is taken into account.
The above principles, adopted by the EU Member States and underlying harmonious European cooperation, have been violated by the radical demands implemented as part of the European Green Deal.
There are protests across Europe by farmers who are fighting not only for their interests, but also for their rights enumerated in the above-mentioned legal acts, which are primary to the legislation of the European Parliament.
We therefore call on the Heads of Government of all EU Member States for a decisive response targeting the problems of European farmers and citizens:
1. We demand the protection of the farmers’ freedom of assembly and unrestricted freedom to protest. We also demand the release of farmers detained during legal protests and the discontinuation of criminal proceedings, which constitute a tool of intimidation of the protesters.
2. We demand the convening of an EU Summit devoted to work on the demands formulated by protesting farmers. We demand the abandonment of facade instruments of fictitious industry dialogue, as expressed by the “Strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture in the EU” initiated by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen in January.
3. We demand rational restrictions on the import of food from outside the EU, based on quantitative and qualitative indicators.
4. We demand that the European Council adopt conclusions leading to the withdrawal of EU bodies from the elements of the European Green Deal that reduce the competitiveness of European agriculture and pose a threat to the efficiency of European agriculture and its ability to feed the inhabitants of Europe. This includes in particular, the elements leading to a radical increase in the costs of electricity, fertilizers and the necessary infrastructure. We demand a review of all legal acts adopted by the EU under the European Green Deal – including all regulations and decisions inspired by the European Green Deal and falling within the scope of the Common Agricultural Policy.
5. We demand a profound revision of all other assumptions of the Green Deal, including those relating to energy policy and industry, and any form of restriction of property rights.
6. In particular, we demand an abandonment of the radical and uneven reduction in the use of plant protection products and radical and uneven restrictions on the use of fertilizers. The EU’s ideological demands not only lead to the loss of competitiveness of European agricultural production, but also threaten the existence of European agriculture, which undermines the food security of the Community and the member states.
7. In particular, we demand a complete withdrawal of the mandatory fallowing of agricultural land.
8. In particular, we demand that new assumptions of the Common Agricultural Policy in the scope currently inspired by the European Green Deal be subject to broad consultations, with the participation of protesting farmers and analytical centers supporting them.
Only the implementation of the above demands will allow farmers to return to work and restore, at least partially, the trust of EU citizens in its legislative bodies.
Citizens of the European Union
Art. 3 of the Treaty on European Union:
1.The Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values, and the well-being of its peoples.
European agriculture is facing a catastrophe due to:
– compulsory fallowing of agricultural land
– excessive limitations on the use of plant protection products
– reduction of agricultural livestock
– restrictions on the use of fertilizers
– an increase in bureaucracy
– the mass and uncontrolled inflow of agricultural products from outside the EU
These are just a few examples of the EU bureaucrats’ decisions which impact European farmers.
We must stop the annihilation of European agriculture!
Pacification of the farmers’ protest in Warsaw on March 6, 2023. Source: X/user Wojowniczka_PL
Farmers’ protests continue
Farmers and their organizations across a number of Member States face restrictions of their fundamental freedoms, despite the fact that these are guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, such as freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, including the right to organize and join protests against legislative actions and national and EU policies that are harmful to the EU agricultural economy, the farmers themselves, and their families. In many EU countries, these protests are being banned and are violently suppressed. Several local governments have banned farmers’ gatherings, and direct coercive measures were used against protesters in many cities throughout Europe, with participants in peaceful protests being deprived of their liberty and facing criminal charges that may result in long-term imprisonment.
The farmers will not be the only ones to suffer at the hands of the Eurocrats
The European Green Deal is a set of EU directives aimed at the transformation of the European Union in accordance with the Green ideology, and has been introduced without any regard for the economic and social costs or the well-being of the citizens of the Member States, thus violating the goals towards which the Union was established.
One of the basic tools of this transformation is the “Fit for 55” package, which calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 in comparison to 1990. Those who set this goal did not take into account the huge disproportion that existed 34 years ago in terms of development between free-market Western Europe and Central Eastern Europe, which had just been liberated from Soviet oppression. This results in an uneven distribution of the costs of energy transformation and an excessive burden on the comparatively poorer countries of the East.
Farmers are the first – and definitely not the last – social group to directly feel the effects of the Green revolution.
The European Union’s Green ideology
affects all EU citizens. In particular, it will impact:
Farmers
A series of directives contained in the European Green Deal hit the agricultural producers, particularly the smaller ones that are running family farms. EU officials are also forcing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture to be reduced. As a consequence of these actions, agricultural production (including animal breeding) has been reduced, production costs have increased, and bureaucracy is growing. There are likewise horrendous financial penalties for failing to comply with the Green Deal.
Car drivers and automotive industry
In line with EU policy, there is a gradual reduction underway in the freedom to travel, ultimately leading to a ban on the ability of internal combustion-powered cars to enter European cities. Polish Clean Transport Zones, the German Umweltzone, and Belgian age-emissiezone make life more difficult for residents, especially the poorer ones, who drive older cars which do not meet EU emission standards. They were the first in line to be banned from entering an increasing number of European cities. The Eurocrats also pushed through a ban on registering new combustion engine cars from 2035. This will eliminate the production of combustion-powered cars in many European countries. Anyone who cannot afford an expensive electric car will be excluded from travel.
Homeowners
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) obliges all building owners to achieve zero emissions (i.e., a complete elimination of emissions). Even the poorest families will be obliged to modernize their thermal insulation, replacing their coal or gas furnaces with so-called “ecological energy sources” – preferably heat pumps. Those who do not carry out these renovations will be subject to administrative oppression via such methods as high financial penalties. The enormous costs of thermal modernization (approximately 350 billion euros in Poland alone) will be borne by impoverished citizens themselves, because the European Union will not provide additional funds for the renovation of those millions of buildings which do not meet their current crazy emission standards.
We can still stop the Green ideology
Although the rest of the world continues to develop their economies based on energy derived from coal and other fossil fuels, and despite the fact that they are not even remotely concerned about climate protection, Europe, which is striving to assume the role of the world’s most backward region, is madly raising the banner of the Green revolution, which was designed by people detached from reality – i.e., the ideologues of the extreme Left. Unfortunately, those politicians who rule the European Union’s Member States are merely accepting their proposals wholesale, disregarding the fact that these measures will not be able to change the climate in any event. However, they will push millions of Europeans towards poverty, destroy the European Union’s economic competitiveness – and ultimately, lead to its collapse.
The production of food and other goods will not stop, but will only be transferred outside the European Union, where these absurd climate regulations do not apply.
The European Union, which was supposed to drive development, has become a barrier to development!
We demand that the heads of the European states and governments take immediate steps to withdraw from these harmful European Green Deal plans. We therefore call on those in power to urgently convene an EU summit to work through the demands of farmers from across Europe.
We also demand that EU citizens be guaranteed freedom of assembly and an unfettered freedom to protest. We demand the release of those detained farmers who dared to fight for their rights and the rights of all citizens of the EU countries.
We demand the development of new guidelines for the Common Agricultural Policy, with the participation of the protesting farmers and the think tanks supporting them.
It is producers, not Green ideologues, who should decide the future of agriculture and the economies of Europe!
