Farmers protesting in Brussels, Madrid, press ministers to act
By Kate Abnett and Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Farmers set fire to piles of tyres in Brussels on Monday in a protest to demand EU action on issues ranging from cheap supermarket prices to free trade deals, as agricultural ministers met to discuss the crisis in the sector.
Riot police fired water cannon to put out flames.
Over 100 tractors were parked around the European Union institutions' headquarters, jamming parts of Brussels, a short distance from the cordoned off area where ministers were meeting.
Farmers across Europe have been protesting for weeks to demand action from policymakers on an array of pressures they say the sector is under — from cheap supermarket prices, to low-cost imports that undercut local producers, to strenuous EU environmental rules.
Local grievances vary. But Morgan Ody, General Coordinator of farming organisation La Via Campesina, said that for most farmers: «It's about income.»
«It's about the fact that we are poor, and that we want to make a decent living,» Ody told Reuters.
Ody, a farmer from Brittany, France, called on the EU to set up minimum support prices and exit free trade agreements that enable imports of cheaper foreign produce.
«We are not against climate policies. But we know that in order to do the transition, we need higher prices for products because it costs more to produce in an ecological way,» she said.
TRADE DEALS, GREEN DEAL
Agriculture ministers were set to debate a new set of EU proposals to ease the pressure on farmers, including a reduction in farm inspections and the possibility to exempt small farms from some environmental standards.
«Farmers need to be paid for what they do… There are aspects of the Green Deal demanded of farmers that are not
Read more on investing.com
