EU agricultural ministers to try and get farmers back to their fields

Farmers are bringing their tractors back to Brussels on Tuesday to protest EU regulations and falling profits while agricultural ministers meet to find a way to appease them.

For weeks, angry farmers have been blockading roads and protesting in front of government offices across Europe, including the EU's Brussels headquarters.

Their actions are already having an effect, with the European Commission shelving a controversial fertilizer ban and proposing to loosen conditions to access subsidies from the bloc's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Farmers rely on CAP subsidies to stay afloat but payments are conditional on strict environmental protection rules. The commission proposed to ease rules for land use and crop rotation on March 15.

There is a lengthy process ahead before the proposed changes can be added to EU law, as the European Parliament and EU member states need to agree amendments together.

Another matter to be discussed at Tuesday's meeting is the reintroduction of EU tariffs on certain agricultural imports from Ukraine like eggs, poultry, maize and honey.

The EU lifted tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural imports in 2022 to support the Ukrainian economy after Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in February of that year.

But farmers in the EU complained about the sharp rise in imports. They say they want protection from unfair competition, as Ukrainian farmers can produce food at lower costs - not least because they don't have to comply with EU regulations.