Only connecting with voters can stem the tide of populism in Europe – POLITICO

But while all of these may be factors to varying degrees, they are all definitely part of something much bigger and more fundamental, a backlash rooted in overall despair. , is exacerbated by the perception of many voters, especially in rural centers and small towns. — Their complaints will be ignored. Not only that, but when they have the courage to lift them up, they are patronized by rarefied politicians, telling disjointed stories about means, capabilities, and tripartite relations, further increasing the disconnect.

These voters feel they will only be taken seriously if they take to the streets in sufficient numbers, clogging highways and suffocating capitals and city centers to impose their cause. Only then will incumbent politicians start running scared – like France’s yellow vest movement.

Take, for example, the farmer protests that have spread like wildfire across the continent in recent weeks. Polish farmers blocked supplies of cheap grain from neighboring Ukraine, German farmers jammed highways for a week in protest at virtually zero cuts to diesel subsidies, and French farmers blocked cheap food imports and forest plantations. They besieged Paris to vent their anger over the restrictions imposed on them. Forced navigation. Similar disruptions have been seen in Italy, Spain and Romania, among others.

In Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass,” the Red Queen tells Alice, “You must run as fast as you can to stay in the same place.” And indeed, many farmers feel they have been pushed through the glass. In fact, for European farmers, the faster they run, the faster they seem to fall back.

Wages increased significantly from 2022 to 2023 in most sectors, but not in agriculture. On the contrary, the average income of small-scale farmers in Europe has fallen by 12 to 22 percent, according to German multinational financial services company Allianz. “Farmers lack bargaining power. At the same time, they face increased regulation and rising costs of energy, fertilizer, transport, biodiversity, water quality, climate and farm labor,” said Johan Geroms of Allianz. said.

Add to this the fact that farmers are being asked to come to terms with the impossible. “On the one hand, it’s about greening, and on the other hand, it’s opening the door to a globalized world that doesn’t follow the same strict environmental rules everywhere,” Giams said.