Farmers threw beets and sprayed manure at police on Tuesday as hundreds of tractors again sealed off streets close to the European Union headquarters, where agriculture ministers sought to ease a crisis that has led to months of protests across the 27-member bloc.
Quick Read
- Farmers’ Protest in Brussels: Farmers protested near the European Union headquarters in Brussels, expressing their frustrations with environmental regulations, trade practices, and bureaucracy. They used dramatic methods such as blocking streets with tractors and spreading agricultural products and manure.
- Violence and Police Response: The protest escalated into violence, leading to police deploying tear gas and water cannons to manage the crowd and keep the farmers at a distance during the EU agriculture ministers’ meeting.
- Impact on Brussels: The protest caused significant disruption in Brussels, prompting authorities to advise remote work and avoid city travel, as farmers made their presence felt with around 250 tractors and various farm products scattered around key areas.
- Concessions to Farmers: Facing widespread protests across the EU, authorities have started to offer concessions to farmers, including easing farm controls and adjusting environmental and pesticide regulations to address their concerns.
- EU Policy Shifts: The protests have influenced the EU’s stance on environmental and agricultural policies, leading to the indefinite postponement of a major nature protection and climate change initiative, highlighting the political impact of the farmers’ movement.
- Farmers’ Demands: Farmers are advocating for a balanced approach that allows them to sustain their livelihoods while also contributing to environmental efforts, emphasizing the need for agriculture to be prioritized in policy discussions.
- EU’s Provisional Measures: The EU member states have tentatively agreed to proposals that would relax certain agricultural practices and regulations, particularly benefiting small farmers who are most active in the protests.
- Environmental Concerns: Environmentalists warn that these concessions could have long-term negative effects on climate change and sustainability, arguing that short-term relief for farmers might lead to greater challenges in the future.
- Political Shifts: The farmers’ protests have fueled a shift towards more conservative and populist sentiments within the EU, with critics arguing that current policies are out of touch with the realities of farming and rural life.
The Associated Press has the story:
Farmers in tractors again block Brussels to protest EU policies
Newslooks- BRUSSELS (AP) —
Farmers threw beets and sprayed manure at police on Tuesday as hundreds of tractors again sealed off streets close to the European Union headquarters, where agriculture ministers sought to ease a crisis that has led to months of protests across the 27-member bloc.
The farmers are protesting what they see as excessive red tape and unfair trading practices as well as increased environmental measures and cheap imports from Ukraine. “Let us make a living from our profession,” read one billboard on a tractor blocking a main thoroughfare littered with hay, potatoes, eggs and manure.
As the protests turned into violence, police used tear gas and water cannons to keep farmers and some 250 tractors at bay, even as the ministers met to push through measures meant to calm the crisis. Authorities asked commuters to stay out of Brussels and work from home as much as possible.
With protests taking place from Finland to Greece, Poland and Ireland, the farmers have already won concessions from EU and national authorities, from a loosening of controls on farms to a weakening of pesticide and environmental rules.
A major EU plan to better protect nature in the 27-nation bloc and fight climate change was indefinitely postponed Monday, underscoring how the protests have had a deep influence on politics.
“In order to have a strong Europe, there is a need for a strong agriculture. So we are here to remind them that their farmers should be a priority,” said Belgian farmer Yolin Targé. “We have to deal with a lot of administrative tasks. We have to deal with a lot environmental restrictions. We are in favor of doing our best for the environment, but still, agriculture should be a priority.”
EU member states on Tuesday gave their provisional blessing to proposals that amount to weakening or cutting rules in areas like crop rotation, soil cover protection and tillage methods. Small farmers, representing about two-thirds of the workforce and the most active in the protest movement, will be exempt from some controls and penalties.
The EU parliament is expected to decide on the proposals in late April.
Environmentalists and climate activists say the change in EU policies under the pressure of farmers is regrettable. They say the short-term concessions will come to haunt the bloc in a generation when climate change will hit the continent even harder.
Politically, the bloc has moved to the right over the past year. The plight of farmers has become a rallying cry for populists and conservatives who claim EU climate and farm policies are little more than bureaucratic bungling from elitist politicians who have lost any feeling for soil and land.
