Free Republic

Farmers in Germany have been banned from properly fertilizing large areas of their land under strict EU rules pushing the green agenda. The use of nitrate fertilizers has been further restricted for large swathes of farmland in North Rhine-Westphalia, which is now likely to drastically reduce yields. Although German authorities have implemented the ban, it is ultimately at the behest of the European Union, which is seeking to reduce the amount of nitrogen to tackle ‘climate change.’ The policy has already wreaked havoc in the Netherlands. As The Daily Fetched reported in September: Dutch farmers have risen in protest to...

Electricity and gas prices are soaring across Europe, with bills close to double from last year in most European capitals, according to new data from the Household Energy Price Index—a monthly tracker of energy prices for households across 33 European capitals, including the 27 EU member states and several non-members. According to the data collected for the HEPI, natural gas bills in Europe have gone up by as much as 111 percent over the past year, with electricity prices up by an average of 69 percent. Taken together, Euronews calculates these two make for a total 90-percent increase in household...

In terms of intentionally destructive impact on civilization, the fast-escalating energy crisis may be the greatest challenge we face in our lifetimes. World wars have been fought over less. And don't think it will turn out any different this time – unless we radically change course quickly. Surprisingly little is reported about the gravity of the energy crisis raging out of control throughout the Western world. Progressive governments, including our own, have made absurdly counterintuitive and destructive decisions in favor of lofty "green energy" policies that will not become a reality in our lifetime or our children's. What they have...

The economic powerhouses of the European Union, France and Germany, both set records on Friday for electricity prices, as the West’s sanctions war with Russia continues to bite. This time last year the cost of electricity per megawatt-hour (MWh) in both France and Germany sat at around 85 euros. On Friday, both countries set record highs, with the cost climbing by at least 1,000 per cent from last year to €850 in Germany and over €1,000 in France, Le Monde reports. While the price of energy has been rising since the end of the lockdown measures across the world last...

The Conference on the Future of Europe was a novel and innovative process which has opened up a new space for debate with citizens to address Europe’s challenges and priorities, with a view to underpinning the democratic legitimacy of the European project and to upholding citizens’ support for our common goals and values. It was a citizens-focused, bottom-up exercise for Europeans to have their say on what they expect from the European Union. Sounds terrific at first blush — a massive attempt to engage the everyday Joes of Europe in the discussion of where they want the EU headed. But...