In a plenary session of the Chamber, federal MP, and farmer, Emmanuel Burton pointed to the ever-increasing number of standards weighing down the sector and creating unfair competition with other regions of the world, but also within the EU.
“It is not the international treaties that are the problem, but rather the failure to respect the mirror clauses, which are supposed to impose the same standards here as elsewhere. We must also not forget that Belgium is an exporting country, and it is a good thing that we can continue to export, but it must not be done just any way,” explains Emmanuel Burton.
For Wallonia alone, the trade balance for agri-food products is positive, standing at 507 million euros in 2022.“The problem also stems from unfair competition within the EU countries themselves, some of which follow the same directives as us but do not apply the same environmental standards. This proves that the standards, as applied here, are overvalued and over-applied. Certain parties, even within the government, are nevertheless pushing to make these standards even heavier. Fortunately, Minister Clarinval was able to block the tax on professional diesel, otherwise it would have meant even less income for the sector.”
“Farms today are suffering because farmers work 80 hours a week and sometimes earn less than the unemployed, which is unacceptable. Rural, family-run, profitable farming is absolutely incompatible with the degrowth agenda of political ecology,” concludes Emmanuel Burton.