More tales of woe from the "cut our nose to spite our face" folder

I feel for the small farmers and the many thousands of small businesses al over the EU which are suffering because of the steps taken by the mostly unelected powers-that-be in Brussels.  



From TheGuardian:
Russian food embargo  leaves Europe with glut of fruit, pork and mackerel.
Producers across EU race to shift perishable items, with concern that surplus will further push down prices
A glut of French pears, warehouses full of German sausage, rotting Polish peppers and unwanted Scottish mackerel: Russia's move to ban European food imports in retaliation for EU sanctions is having a telling effect across a continent already slouching towards another recession.

Last year, EU farm exports to Russia were worth €11bn (£9bn). Officials in Brussels are scrambling to come up with measures, which may be announced early next week, to soften the impact of a ban that could cut that export market in half.

But already there is sign of dissent. In recent days, the leaders of Hungary, Slovakia and Sweden have all spoken out about the damage done by tit-for-tat sanctions that are really starting to bite for businesses on both sides of the standoff. Most notably, Hungary's Viktor Orbán called it "shooting oneself in the foot". And it is farmers in the major food exporters – Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and France – who have been hobbled......

From RT:
Russia food ban protest:  Spanish farmers dump potatoes outside supermarket.
Spanish farmers have dumped thousands of potatoes in front of Carrefour, a major supermarket chain, in response to a move to lower prices, further squeezing suppliers, in the wake of Russian sanctions on agricultural products from the EU.


The demonstration, which was called by the Union de Pequenos Agriultores y Granaderros (UPA), took place on Thursday in Granada, southern Spain and targeted large companies like Carrefour who have taken advantage of the Russian food import ban by lowering prices, thus making it even harder for struggling suppliers.........