European Farmers Protest New Climate Mandates, Say Policies Favor Corporations Over Workers

Protests have spread across several European Union member states as farmers allege new climate and environmental mandates disproportionately harm small and mid-sized agricultural producers. Demonstrators claim the regulations increase costs, reduce output, and accelerate consolidation in favor of large multinational agribusinesses.

Participants argue the policies were drafted with limited rural input and reflect an expanding bureaucratic gap between urban policymakers and working agricultural communities. Critics of the mandates say environmental goals are being pursued through top-down enforcement rather than innovation, placing food security and domestic production at risk while outsourcing supply chains abroad.