Francesco Giubilei, president of the Italian think-tank Nazione Futura, told a Polish newspaper why Brussels' plan for the European Green Deal is insane.

Italian journalist Francesco Giubilei, president of the Italian Nazione Futura movement, spoke about the European Green Deal in an interview with the Polish wPolityce newspaper. He pointed out that farmers across Europe keep protesting mainly because of EU policies. Over the past few years, Brussels has pursued polices that seek to portray farmers as polluters, when in fact they are food producers.

There is undoubtedly an ideological approach to these issues, with which the EU is introducing an inherently irrational policy, added Giubilei, who was a special adviser to the Italian culture minister in Giorgia Meloni’s government from December 2022 to June 2023.

Brussels clearly wants to change our way of life, our behaviour and our eating habits. That is why there are a growing number of so-called synthetic food products forcing out traditional food. Another incredible thing about agriculture is that farmers outside the EU benefit from the measures that are being taken, which is paradoxical. EU policy, for example, favours North African farmers, because if we allow North African farmers to sell their produce on the Italian market and at the same time impose strict rules on Italian farmers, then we are clearly penalising local producers. And that is totally unacceptable,

he said. This is taking place in Poland in relation to Ukraine, or in Spain in relation to Morocco. In Italy, this is what happens with citrus fruits, notably oranges and lemons from North Africa. The same happens with olive oil, which is imported from North Africa in an uncontrolled manner. Francesco Giubilei stressed that the lack of strict controls is rather serious, pointing out that Italian farmers are forced to comply with very rigorous regulations. But there is also the problem that North African farmers do not respect the working conditions applied in Europe. It is therefore obvious that a product supplied from North Africa costs far less than a product produced by an Italian farmer. This affects the entire market, he added.

Requirements set out in the Green Deal will affect not only agriculture, but also the car industry, for example, as there is a directive to terminate the production of internal combustion vehicles by 2035. EU policy also affects the real estate sector through the green buildings directive.

The most vulnerable groups – workers, agricultural producers, livestock breeders – will certainly lose out in the process. Secondly, European companies and entrepreneurs will be hit, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, Francesco Giubilei warned.