Farmers are in revolt and Europe’s climate policies are crumbling. Welcome to the age of ‘greenlash’ | Paul Taylor

Brussels is ditching green measures as EU leaders panic over rural protests, upcoming elections and the threat of the far right

Ursula von der Leyen surrendered to angry farmers last week faster than you could shake a pitchfork or dump a tractor-load of manure outside the European parliament. The European Commission president, expected to announce her candidacy for a second term heading the EU executive next week, told lawmakers that the commission was withdrawing a bill to halve the use of chemical pesticides by 2030 and would hold more consultations instead.

The proposed measure was a key plank in the commission's European Green Deal and its Farm to Fork strategy, intended to make the EU carbon-neutral by 2050, make agriculture more environmentally friendly and preserve biodiversity.