Tractors are parked in market square during “a food march” in Kuopio, central Finland, on Friday March 22, 2024 as farmers protest against perceived inequalities in food production profits. Farmers block a street with their tractors at the Brandenburg Gate during a Farmer’s protest in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 22, 2024. Signs reading “Lying, Cheating, Stealing, Failing, Government” and “Traffic-Light Government must go”.
“If you want to reach climate neutrality, you also have to look in the broader perspective of protecting biodiversity, strengthening the nature in Europe,” Jetten said, stressing that such initiatives were necessary.Under the complicated voting rules, whereby a qualified majority representing 15 of the 27 member states and 65 % of the population was needed, it was long thought that threshold was safe, until Monday.
The change of heart follows weeks of relentless protests from farmers across the bloc who have argued that reams of environmental laws governing the way they work are driving them toward bankruptcy at a time when food security and self-sufficiency are becoming essential again as the Russian war on Ukraine war rages on.