According to police, this Thursday many hundreds of farmers gathered in front of the European Parliament in Brussels to demand recognition of the sector and fair conditions following protests across Europe.
“There are many hundreds of them, I would say at least 600,” a police source told the Lusa news agency regarding the protest taking place this Thursday in the Belgian capital.
According to the same source, the protest began at 04:30 (03:00 in Lisbon) on Luxembourg Square in front of the European Parliament, and from 06:00 several beeps were heard in the European quarter of Brussels.
Rows of tractors began honking through the streets of Brussels’ European quarter early on the day of the Extraordinary European Summit, near the Schumann roundabout.
Other groups of tractors had been on the Belgian capital’s inner ring road since dawn, snarling traffic, and authorities asked citizens to use public transport to get around the capital.
The Federal Highway Police also reported that several groups of tractors were present on several national and adjacent roads to the capital.
The struggle of Belgian farmers, who began protests on Sunday, will intensify throughout the day in Brussels to demonstrate the sector’s grievances to European leaders.
Representatives of agricultural associations from countries including Portugal, Spain and Italy will take part in a demonstration in the European neighborhood at lunchtime to explain the reasons for the protest.
The summit is not expected to formally discuss the roots of farmers’ grievances, which have sparked protests in more than 15 EU member states, including Germany and France, in recent months.
However, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he already intends to discuss this issue during his stay in Brussels.
Macron said he would propose to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen a number of changes in agricultural policy, in particular, in the rules for the separation of land from production and the import of Ukrainian products, in order to respond to the crisis that Paris experienced. is facing protests from the sector.
On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed extending trade benefits granted to Ukraine for another year to support the country’s economy in the face of a Russian invasion, but introduced safeguards in case agricultural markets in one or more countries suffer.
Separately, the community executive proposed on Wednesday to scrap a rule that would force farmers to leave some of their arable land fallow this year, a measure demanded by protesters in several EU member states.
The dispute centers primarily on the situation in the Black Sea following conflict in the Middle East, which has forced goods to take other routes (such as the Cape of Good Hope), leading to delays and increased costs. .
There is also talk of France’s challenge to the trade agreement with the countries of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) due to fears of the impact on the European agricultural sector.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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