Tractor revolt, what does the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have to do with it and who voted for it

The environmental constraints introduced with the 2021 reform are among the reasons that sparked farmers' protests

There is a common thread that links the farmers' protests which have been spreading like wildfire across Europe since the beginning of the year.This is the CAP, the Common Agricultural Policy, which represents the main instrument through which the European Union regulates subsidies for the sector.The latest CAP reform was approved in 2021 and introduced some environmental obligations to make agriculture more sustainable and reduce the share of climate-changing emissions, about 11% of the total greenhouse gases produced by European Union countries.These new limits are experienced as a real burden by some farmers, who are protesting to ask for less stringent limits and a general review of the CAP rules.Their discontent, in Italy as well as in other European countries, has been ridden above all by right-wing parties, who in the last legislature opposed a good part of the measures included in the Green Deal, the package of measures through which the EU aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The political side of the right

On the occasion of the extraordinary European Council in Brussels, the leader of the League Matteo Salvini shared some images of the protests and he took the side "of farmers and producers who are making themselves heard to ask for a stop to ideological decisions that are far from reality".The minister is also on the same line Francesco Lollobrigida, who branded as "simply crazy" the policies "of the European Union, endorsed by the governments that preceded us" and which use "environmental sustainability as a club". Antonio Tajani, Foreign Minister and secretary of Forza Italia, accused Brussels of "sacrificing man and work in the name of new pantheism" in defense of the climate.In short, the farmers' protest was supported by the main right-wing and centre-right parties, who are now asking to listen to the sector's requests and take a step back on some CAP measures linked to the objectives of the Green Deal.

Bonelli's attack

And yet, second Angelo Bonelli, spokesperson for Green Europe, the three ministers are omitting an important piece of the story.The MEPs of the parties that make up the current majority of the Meloni government, Bonelli recalls, voted in favor of the 2021 CAP reform.«Meloni, as a political leader, voted for all the wrong EU reforms, while today, without shame, she claims to have opposed it», attacks the spokesperson of the Italian Greens.Bonelli accuses the majority parties of hypocrisy and invites them to listen to the farmers' requests:«Their reasons must be listened to.What we find unacceptable is the exploitation of the Italian right, which places responsibility for what is happening to the ecological transition, to the Green Deal.It's a big lie, a big lie."

The vote on the 2021 CAP

On the CAP vote, Bonelli is right.Scrolling through the results of votes of the European Chamber session on 23 November 2021, we realize that the three acts linked to the approval of the new CAP passed thanks to a bipartisan majority, ranging from the centre-left of the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) to the conservative right of Identità and Democracy (ID) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (Ecr).The act regulating the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy, for example, was approved with 485 votes in favour, 142 against and 61 abstentions.Among those who gave the green light to the measure there are also several right-wing and center-right MEPs, including:Carlo Fidanza, Sergio Berlato, Nicola Procaccini and Pietro Fiocchi (Fratelli d'Italia), Matteo Adinolfi, Danilo Oscar Lancini, Paolo Borchia, Susanna Ceccardi, Angelo Ciocca, Isabella Tovaglieri, Silvia Sardone (Lega), Silvio Berlusconi, Isabella Adinolfi, Salvatore De Meo (Forza Italia).Together with them there are also several center and center-left MEPs – from Carlo Calenda (Action leader) to Pina Picierno and Giuliano Pisapia (Pd) - who, however, unlike their colleagues, did not embrace the anti-Green Deal crusade of some farmers.Those who voted against the CAP reform were mainly MEPs from The Left and the Greens, including the Italians Ignazio Corrao and Eleonora Evi.

The long negotiations and the final compromise

However, the story needs a bit of context.The green light for the final text of the CAP reform came after a very long negotiation, which lasted about two years.And which in the end, as often happens in these cases, left everyone only half satisfied.The centre-left and the greens obtained, at the urging of the former commissioner Frans Timmermans, the inclusion of environmental sustainability objectives within the reform.While conservatives and popular groups have managed to eliminate some of the rules considered too stringent.The final text of the CAP, the result of a compromise between the different sides, was rejected by the Greens, forced to give up too many points dear to them, but received the support of the conservatives, albeit with some objections.In a note published shortly after the plenary vote, Fratelli d'Italia spoke of a result that was "not perfect in terms of bureaucracy and simplification".

What does the CAP provide?

The CAP reform approved in 2021 allocates a total of 387 billion euros, around a third of the total European Union budget, to be distributed between 2023 and 2027.One of the main innovations of the provision is the mechanism of "social conditionality".To access community aid, agricultural companies are required to respect labor laws and laws against gangmastering but must also comply with certain environmental "barriers".Starting from 2024, for example, those who own an area exceeding 10 hectares are obliged to leave at least 4% of their land fallow.This measure was one of the most contested by farmers, who ultimately managed to convince the European Commission to do so a step back and postpone its entry into force to 2025.In general, the latest version of the CAP was linked to a series of environmental sustainability objectives.The plan Farm to Fork for example, it plans to convert at least 25% of cultivated land to organic farming by 2030.Other dossiers relating to the transition of the sector are still being defined, starting from the proposal to reduce the use of pesticides or the contested nature restoration law.Through these dossiers, the EU aims to accompany agricultural companies towards a more sustainable and less polluting model.But there are still many doubts among farmers, which so far seem to have been intercepted above all by the conservative parties.

Cover photo:ANSA/Matteo Corner | The farmers' protest in front of the Pirellone, in Milan (1 February 2024)