Farmers Protest, Who Gains?

Angry farmers seized the political agenda across Europe but how many of their actual demands reached the negotiating table? We profile the power brokers who turned protests to their advantage

In recent months, farmers’ protests captured headlines across Europe. Demands for fairer prices, more supportive policies, and less bureaucracy were frequently presented as a rebellion against green regulations. The demonstrations and discontent have become a key electoral issue for political parties in the European elections in June.

While there is a widespread agreement that European farmers are struggling, the solution to their woes is hotly debated. In this context, we sought to discover who is speaking on behalf of the farmers, and whose interests they represent.

In collaboration with Splann!, L’Espresso, Frontstory.pl, The Europeans and Taz, we investigated some of the key figures claiming to represent farmers, and how they are doing that job, in France, Italy, Germany and Poland. We gathered testimony and scoured through company records to build profiles of some of the most influential figures framing the meaning of the protests.

This series of investigations shows that the representation of European farmers is concentrated in the hands of a few people who bear little resemblance to the average farmer they claim to speak for. They are much wealthier, sit on the boards of multiple companies and have close links with “Big Ag” companies whose interests can be opposed to those of farmers.

In addition, many of those we profile directly control or own shares in media outlets that cater to the agricultural community, allowing them to spread and amplify their messages among the farming community.

Some farm unions even use unethical methods against critics and those advocating for reforms and alternative policies. Some livestock farmers with deep pockets have managed to portray themselves as “protest leaders” in international media, when they have not been elected or chosen by farmers.

This investigation is a follow up on our 2023 investigation into Copa-Cogeca, the oldest, biggest, and most powerful farm lobby in the European Union which had assumed a role as the self-proclaimed voice of European farmers and agri-cooperatives in Brussels, although our findings showed otherwise.

METHODS

We built a cross-border team of journalists in four European countries and focused on a handful of strongmen leaders with vast webs of influence and connections. We used two main methods to establish their profiles and connections: interviews and open sources.

We dug into the financial and corporate links of union and farmer representatives using open source research, in particular company registry data. We discovered many are on the board of directors of multiple companies, hold various key positions that wield power over agricultural policies, and own vastly more land and receive multiple times more farm subsidies than an average farmer in their country.

Extensive interviews and on-the-ground reporting also helped us to piece together the tactics of the strongmen of agricultures, and the challenges faced by their critics.

STORYLINES

In France, Splann! conducted an analysis of four key leaders of FNSEA (the Fédération nationale des syndicats d’exploitants agricoles), providing an unprecedented mapping of the multiple, and sometimes conflicting, roles they hold. It shows that these powerful men (Thierry Coué, André Sergent, Arnaud Rousseau and Jérôme Despey) occupy positions in a wide range of public and private bodies and how this stifles democratic farmer representation.

Germany provided a cautionary tale of how a well-intentioned process could end up entrenching a association’s power. Taz investigated how one of Germany’s largest farmer associations, Deutsche Bauernverband, backtracked on agreements it had made in a consensus-based commission on the future of agriculture, the Zukunftskommission Landwirtschaft (ZKL) set up by the German government in July 2020. DBV’s behaviour raises questions on how effective the ongoing “Strategic Dialogue on the future of EU Agriculture”, launched by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, will be, since it is modelled off the ZKL.

In Italy, L’Espresso looked into Coldiretti, a union that claims 1.6 million members, and that it’s the largest farm union in Europe. Over the past decades, it has also shown an extraordinary ability to engage effectively with governments across the political spectrum. Our investigation reveals its links to policymakers – the Chief of Staff of the current minister for agriculture is a former Coldiretti official – and to some of Italy’s biggest agribusinesses. The government is now planning new measures that smaller unions worry could further consolidate power in the hands of the largest unions. The L’espresso piece is on the front page in print, if you’re in Italy grab a copy! If not, it’ll be online next week and we’ll link it here.

The Europeans podcast provides an overview of the situation in all four countries and in Brussels, unpacks some of the simplistic portrayals of the farmers’ protests, and outlines the challenges faced by small farmers. The podcast includes insights from several of the journalists involved in this investigation.