Around 500 trade union members from across Europe are expected to gather in Brussels on Tuesday, 3 November, to oppose proposed changes to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that could remove a key
safeguard linking EU agricultural subsidies to workers’ rights.
The European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT) is organising the demonstration under the slogan “Hands Off Social Conditionality! For Fair Work in Agriculture”. The rally aims to defend social conditionality, a mechanism introduced in the 2021 CAP reform that makes access to certain EU agricultural payments dependent on compliance with basic labour standards.
The demonstration will take place at Place Jean Rey in Brussels from 14:00 to 16:00 CET. Union representatives and agricultural workers will be available for interviews at a dedicated media point during the event.
The protest comes amid growing concern over the future of workers’ protections in the EU’s agricultural funding system. During the latest round of negotiations on the CAP for the post-2027 period, the Council removed social conditionality from its general partial approach, raising fears that the link between public agricultural funding and labour rights could be dismantled.
EFFAT argues that weakening the mechanism would undermine efforts to combat exploitation in a sector where precarious employment, undeclared work and dangerous working conditions remain widespread.
EU agricultural subsidies and workers’ rights
Social conditionality was introduced as part of the 2021 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, establishing a direct connection between public financial support for agricultural employers and respect for workers’ rights.
The mechanism marked a significant change in EU agricultural policy by making labour standards a condition for receiving certain farm subsidies.
EFFAT maintains that removing these protections would send the wrong message to agricultural employers and weaken the EU’s commitment to ensuring that public money supports decent employment.
The union federation is calling on EU policymakers to retain social conditionality in the future CAP framework, arguing that agricultural competitiveness must not come at the expense of workers’ safety, dignity and fundamental rights.
Fatal incidents highlight the risks facing agricultural workers
The debate over social conditionality comes against a backdrop of serious labour exploitation and workplace accidents in European agriculture.
In Calabria, southern Italy, four migrant agricultural workers were reportedly locked inside a minivan and burned to death in Amendolara after allegedly demanding unpaid wages from gangmasters. The employer involved had also received payments under the Common Agricultural Policy.
Another case involved Satnam Singh, a 31-year-old Indian agricultural worker who died near Latina, Italy, after his arm was severed by machinery. His employer’s agricultural business had reportedly been under investigation for labour exploitation since 2019 but continued to receive EU agricultural funding.
These incidents have intensified calls for stronger enforcement of labour protections and greater accountability for agricultural businesses benefiting from public subsidies.
Undeclared work remains a major problem in EU agriculture
Labour exploitation is not limited to individual cases. According to figures cited by EFFAT, undeclared and under-declared employment accounts for an estimated 32% of work in European agriculture, compared with approximately 5% across the wider economy.
The sector also faces significant occupational safety challenges, with around 500 fatal workplace accidents and 150,000 non-fatal accidents recorded annually.
EFFAT argues that these figures demonstrate why social conditionality should remain a central element of the EU’s agricultural funding policy.
The federation’s position is that public subsidies should support responsible agricultural businesses, encourage decent working conditions and help prevent exploitation rather than indirectly financing employers who violate labour standards.
The Brussels demonstration is expected to bring together trade union representatives and agricultural workers from across Europe to demand that EU institutions preserve the existing safeguards.
At the centre of the campaign is a clear message: EU agricultural funding must be linked to respect for workers’ rights, and public money must never subsidise labour exploitation. Photo by Fred Romero from Paris, France, Wikimedia commons.
