Ben Pawlowski
FARMER strikes are set to return with a plot to block the border between France and Spain on the eve of next month’s European elections.
The protest group Revolta Pagesa have called for a new demonstration on June 3 which will see coordination between French and Spanish farmers to block the border for 24 hours.
The blockade will take place in the run-up to this year’s European elections, with voters heading to the polls on June 9.
In a press conference on Wednesday, the group said: “Because of the immobility shown by the state and European autonomous governments and their lack of commitment, involvement and concrete measure, we are forced to unite by creating a unitary block in defence of the agricultural sector”.
Farmer strikes spread to Spain in early February, with frustrated agricultural workers blocking roads with their tractors in protest against EU regulations, which they claim allows them to be undercut by foreign growers who can offer their produce for less.
READ MORE: Why are farmers striking in Spain and when will they stop?
Protesters across Europe lobbied the EU to pause the negotiation of trade deals with New Zealand, Chile, Kenya, Mexico, India, Australia and Mercosur, the South American trading bloc, arguing that imports from these countries represent unfair competition.
The Spanish government had committed to a number of concessions in order to appease the agriculturalists, including maintaining a subsidy on farmers using diesel, re-shaping food chain laws, and asking EU bosses in Brussels to simplify the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which provides subsidies for producers.
Revolta Pagesa, the group behind the planned blockade, say they want to ‘pressure’ the EU and to achieve ‘better food security’, urging the Spanish and French governments to ‘start negotiations’ and ‘find satisfactory solutions’ for their range of demands.
The group said: “We will not stop until we achieve our demands”.
