On behalf of the ECR Group, Co-Chairman Nicola Procaccini expressed deep frustration over the impact of the Commissions Green Deal policies on farmers, breeders and fishermen.

Addressing the European Parliament today in Strasbourg on the key debate on empowering farmers and rural communities, Mr. Procaccini denounced the Commission for burdening farmers relentlessly with Green Deal legislation that not only fails to assist farmers but also makes their work more difficult, reduces their income, and negatively affects their livelihoods.

“On average every four months you have thrown a law in our faces against farmers, breeders and fishermen”, Procaccini said.

The ECR Group leader also took a swipe at former Green Deal Chief Frans Timmermans, who abandoned his role at the Commission to return to national politics last November, “I am sorry that Timmermans, who ran away in time, is not here in his place”, Procaccini noted.

Mr Procaccini’s speech reads in full:

“Thank you President, Commissioner, I am sorry that Mr Timmermans, who ran away in time, is not here in his place. For years we have asked you to listen to us, we have fought you, despite not having the numbers to stop the red-green majority that gave birth to this madness called the Green Deal.

On average every four months you have thrown a law in our faces against farmers, breeders and fishermen. You told us that nature needed to be protected from them. They, who have lived and worked in nature for generations and generations.

With Farm to Fork, you have crushed farmers and promoted the consumption of insects and larvae.

With Nutriscore you wanted to hit the Mediterranean diet.

With the packaging regulation, you have banned packages that guarantee freshness for fruit and vegetables.

With the Green claims, you have established that vegetables cannot be defined as “green” if they then travel by truck.

With the strategy against cancer, you have declared war on meat and wine. With a directive, you have equated stables with industrial plants. With another you want to have pharmaceutical companies produce meat in laboratories. In some nations, the left-wing governments have also removed subsidies against expensive diesel.

With the Nature Restoration Law, you have decided that human beings harm the planet, so we must abandon the cultivated fields, remove the banks from the rivers and exhume the swamps.

Moreover, thank goodness that that half-assed CAP has passed, because if it had gone the way Greta Thunberg and the armchair environmentalists wanted it would have been even worse than it is. What did you expect from farmers? That they thanked you?

Revolt is the language of those who are not listened to. Now back off but it’s late. The minority has become the majority throughout Europe and in a few months it will put people back in place of ideologies.”