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Farmers threw eggs and stones at the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday, started fires near the building and set off fireworks as they demanded EU leaders do more to help them with taxes and rising costs.<\/p>\n
With anger against green regulations and cheap imports shared among farmers across Europe, protesters from Italy, Spain and other European countries took part in the Brussels demonstration, which coincided with an EU summit nearby, as well as holding protests at home.<\/p>\n
While local grievances also vary, the growing unrest, also seen in Portugal, Greece or Germany, exposes tensions over the EU\u2019s drive to tackle climate change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to stop these crazy laws that come every single day from the European Commission,\u201d Jose Maria Castilla, a farmer representing the Spanish farmers\u2019 union Asaja, said in Brussels.<\/p>\n
The protests across Europe come as the far right, for whom farmers represent a growing constituency, is seen making gains in June\u2019s European Parliament elections. Leaders are trying to quell the anger.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverywhere in Europe the same question arises: how do we continue to produce more but better? How can we continue to tackle climate change? How can we avoid unfair competition from foreign countries?,\u201d French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said, as he announced new measures in Paris.<\/p>\n
Attal promised to make life easier for farmers and better protect them at French and EU level, including by banning cheap imports of products that use a pesticide forbidden in Europe and making sure food labels clearly state if produce is imported. More aid for farmers is also on the way, he said.<\/p>\n
MORE HELP<\/p>\n
Farmers have already secured several measures, including the bloc\u2019s executive Commission proposals to limit farm imports from Ukraine and loosen some environmental regulations on fallow lands, which several EU leaders welcomed as they arrived at the summit.<\/p>\n
But they say this is not enough, and that they are choked by taxes and green rules and face unfair competition from abroad.<\/p>\n
\u201cEuropean elections are coming and politicians are super nervous and also the European Commission. And I think that this is the best moment that together all the European farmers take to the street,\u201d Spanish farmer Castilla added.<\/p>\n
While the farmers\u2019 crisis is not officially on the agenda of the EU summit, which so far has focused on aid to Ukraine, an EU diplomat said the situation with the farmers was set to be discussed later in the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all over Europe, so you must have hope,\u201d Kevin Bertens, a farmer from just outside Brussels, said at the protests in the Belgian capital. \u201cYou need us. Help us!\u201d<\/p>\n
Small groups tried to tear down the barriers erected in front of parliament \u2013 a few blocks from where the summit was taking place \u2013 but police fired tear gas and sprayed water at the farmers with hoses to push them back.<\/p>\n
A statue on the square was damaged and major thoroughfares in Brussels were blocked by around 1,300 tractors, according to a police estimate. Security personnel in riot gear stood guard behind barriers where the leaders were meeting at European Council headquarters.<\/p>\n
The pockets of unrest diminished during the day, but farmers continued to heckle towards them.<\/p>\n
\u2018NO FOOD, NO FUTURE\u2019<\/p>\n
In Portugal, farmers made their way to the Spanish border at dawn to block some of the roads linking the two countries.<\/p>\n
In France, farmers headed towards the lower house of parliament in Paris while drone footage showed a huge convoy of tractors on an motorway near Jossigny as others blocked highways around the French capital.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of Greek farmers with black flags \u2013 to symbolise what they say is the death of agriculture \u2013 drove their tractors across the centre of Greece\u2019s second-biggest city Thessaloniki.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo farmers, no food, no future\u201d one banner read. One tractor was carrying a black coffin.<\/p>\n
As he arrived at the EU summit, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said farmers\u2019 grievances should be discussed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey offer products of high quality, we also need to make sure that they can get the right price for the high quality products that they provide,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar echoed French President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s opposition to signing a trade deal with the Mercosur group of South American countries in its current form \u2013 another key demand for farmers.<\/p>\n
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in disagreement with other EU leaders on many issues, made a point of meeting farmers overnight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to find new leaders who truly represent the interests of the people,\u201d his spokesman quoted him as saying, referring to the European Parliament elections.<\/p>\n
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\nCyprus Mail on Google News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Farmers protested at the European Parliament in Brussels, demanding EU leaders address their concerns about taxes and rising costs. They threw eggs and stones, started fires, and set off fireworks. The protest included farmers from Italy, Spain, and other European countries and coincided with an EU summit. The farmers are also upset about green regulations and cheap imports. Protests were held in various European countries, including Portugal, Greece, and Germany, highlighting tensions over the EU’s climate change policies.<\/p>\n
Spanish farmer Jose Maria Castilla, representing Asaja, criticized the European Commission’s regulations. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced measures to support farmers, such as banning cheap imports of products using pesticides forbidden in Europe and ensuring clear labeling of imported food. The European Commission proposed limiting farm imports from Ukraine and relaxing some environmental rules.<\/p>\n
The farmers’ crisis was not officially on the EU summit agenda, which focused on aid to Ukraine, but was expected to be discussed. Police used tear gas and water hoses against farmers trying to tear down barriers near the summit. Approximately 1,300 tractors blocked major roads in Brussels, and a statue was damaged. Protests also occurred in Portugal, France, and Greece, with slogans like “No farmers, no food, no future.” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar expressed the need to address farmers’ grievances, with Varadkar opposing a trade deal with Mercosur. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with farmers and emphasized the need for new leadership representing the people’s interests ahead of the European Parliament elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[122,693,426,3,344,153,379,201,407,746,499,576,250,419,148,422,184,610,463,577,453,586,468,17,380,202,18],"class_list":["post-2801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-aid","tag-climate-change","tag-competition","tag-cyprus","tag-demonstration","tag-elections","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-farmers","tag-farmers-protest","tag-france","tag-germany","tag-google","tag-italy","tag-local","tag-macron","tag-police","tag-portugal","tag-protest","tag-protests","tag-roads","tag-spain","tag-tensions","tag-ukraine","tag-us","tag-viktor-orban","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n