Senior research fellow Danielle Resnick was interviewed by CNN on the reasons behind farmers’ protests throughout Europe. Resnick says, "These protests reflect some complex political economy dynamics, especially as European governments are trying to navigate the fiscal and climate crisis. Farmers have a lot of grievances, but one that they noted was their own returns on investment has really shifted over the last year. They’ve seen a 9 percent decline on average, in terms of the returns they’re getting."
She adds, "European Union farmers have a lot of leverage. They’ve historically been a very powerful constituency over the past few decades. Farmers feel particularly burdened by prices, climate change (droughts, floods), and EU regulations, like the Green Deal. The main grievance is they haven’t been part of dialogues with the EU in thinking about these climate goals."
