More than 100 tractors were parked around the headquarters of European Union institutions and parts of the city were closed as farmers continued to protest in the Belgian capital Brussels. As agriculture ministers met today to discuss the crisis in the sector, farmers set fire to piles of tires in protest against demands for EU action on issues ranging from cheap supermarket prices to free trade agreements.
Farmers across Europe have been protesting for weeks to demand action from policymakers on a range of pressures they say the sector is under, from cheap supermarket prices to low-cost imports that negatively affect local producers to tough EU environmental rules.
As agriculture ministers met in the Belgian capital Brussels today to discuss the crisis in the sector, farmers set fire to piles of tires in protest against demands for EU action on issues ranging from cheap supermarket prices to free trade agreements, Reuters reports.
FARMERS WANT TO LEAD A DECENT LIFE
Riot police fired water cannons to douse the flames.More than 100 tractors were parked around the headquarters of European Union institutions, blocking parts of Brussels within a short distance of the cordoned-off area where ministers were gathered.
Morgan Ody, General Coordinator of the agricultural organization La Via Campesina, said, “This is about income. It’s about us being poor and wanting to have a decent life.” Ody, a farmer from Brittany, France, called on the EU to set minimum support prices and exit free trade agreements that allow the import of cheaper foreign products.
“We are not against climate policies. But we know that to make the transition we need higher prices for products because ecologically it costs more to produce.”
