Farmers protest in Brussels on Wednesday
Farmers and their tractors will take to the streets of Brussels again on Wednesday 13 November to demonstrate in the European quarter. Organised by the Walloon farmers' organisation (Fugea), together with its allies, the demonstration is a protest ag
Farmers and their tractors will take to the streets of Brussels again on Wednesday 13 November to demonstrate in the European quarter.
Organised by the Walloon farmers' organisation (Fugea), together with its allies, the demonstration is a protest against the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur countries such as Brazil and Argentina.
Fugea fears that the European Commission will push for the EU-Mercosur agreement to be finalised at the G20 summit on 18 and 19 November in Brazil.
They and other farmers elsewhere in Europe see the agreement as unfair competition because it would lead to more imports of agricultural products from Mercosur countries. This mainly concerns beef, “which we already produce here, and better,” Fugea said.
“The agreement is a danger to the planet and our farmers and ranchers,” the organisation added.
“It goes against the Green Deal ambitions and the strategic agricultural dialogue. Europe must put an end to these inconsistencies and give us the tools to save our farms, and their transition.”
The opposition to the agreement has been building for some time, with large farmer protests taking place in Belgium and several other European countries in the spring.
The anger now focuses not only on Mercosur, but also on the European and federal levels' handling of the blue tongue epidemic.
Fugea said that farmers do not understand why the European Commission has not taken a European approach, for example by making group purchases of vaccines.
They also resent the federal government for making farmers bear the cost of vaccination themselves.
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