At the door of the palace were the EU Agriculture Ministers, who waited for farmers from many European countries, including EHNE, because the European Union wants to continue to sink the whole sector based on small farms. The peasants received the authorities with a welcome as colorful as tumultuous.

Confederation Paysanne, a trade union with the OECD in Iparralde, thus summarises its criticism of the common agricultural policy: “The project that the European Union released last June prioritises digital technologies, bio-economy and smart agriculture as solutions to the territorial and social challenges of agriculture such as climate, environment and food. However, technological progress cannot guarantee the sustainability of natural resources, as these technologies consume a lot of energy and require costly investments. (…) Where has the vocation of European agriculture to feed its citizens been lost in this project? That must be the priority. (…) Agriculture can contribute to mitigating the risks of climate and the environment, can supply quality food and enable the existence of living territories, provided that farmers are abundant in the many farms, as proposed by popular and sustainable agriculture.”

The Global Coordinator for Peasant Movements, Via Campesina, summed up in the following message the rejection of the new common agricultural policy that the European Union is implementing.