Deputy Premier and Transport Minister
Matteo Salvini expressed satisfaction on Tuesday after European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the
withdrawal of a proposed law that aimed to slash the use of
pesticides in the EU, amid tractor protests by farmers in many
parts of Europe, including Italy.
"Long live the farmers, whose tractors are forcing Europe to go
back on the madness imposed by the multinationals and the left"
said Salvini, the leader of the right-wing League party.
Von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that
the Sustainable Use Regulation (SUR), which aimed to cut by half
the use of pesticides by 2030, was being pulled, saying it had
"become a symbol of polarisation".
Although EU policies and the Green Deal, which the SUR is part
of, are a big factor in the tractor protests, other elements are
also involved, such as farmer anger at high fuel prices and the
hardship many of them face, and dissatisfaction with some
national policies.
Tractors from all over Italy have been converging on Rome in
recent days and the farmers intend to stage a major
demonstration in the Italian capital.
On Monday Premier Giorgia Meloni said from Tokyo that the
government has done everything possible to support farmers and
the agricultural sector.
"We have always met with farmers, one of the principal sectors
to which we pay attention," Meloni told reporters in the
Japanese capital.
The facts, she said, speak for themselves, citing "the budget
laws through which resources have been increased", renegotiation
of the EU-funded post-Covid national recovery and resilience
plan (NRRP) to increase available funding "from 5 to 8 billion
euro" and "the effort to incentivise diesel".
"We have done everything possible, a great job also in the
defense of products of excellence such as (through the
introduction of) the famous law banning synthetic food,"
continued Meloni.
"We can always work to do better and more, I am always willing
to listen to requests," she concluded.
Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida welcomed von
der Leyen's announcement.
"We should only further limit agrochemicals when we are able to
protect production with alternative methods," he said.
"From day one we have opposed an ideological approach to the
Issue (of the ecological transition) that would have had a
devastating effects on production and a very limited effect on
the environment.
"It is clear and logical that eliminating indispensable
medicines for plants, leaving them prey to insects or diseases,
reduces production in a drastic way, if it is not wiped out".
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