Friday

29th Mar 2024

Brussels traffic paralysed for hours by fuel protests

  • Farmers want stable and fair prices for their products (Photo: EUobserver)

Thousands of farmers, lorry drivers and taxi chauffeurs descended on Brussels on Tuesday protesting high fuel prices, snarling traffic and bringing much of the city to a halt a day ahead of a key European summit where leaders from across the Union are to discuss the escalating fuel crisis.

Farmers atop tractors snaked their way through the city before ending up at Cinquantenaire Park a few yards away from the European Commission and Council buildings, which were protected by some 800 police and rings of razor wire and metal barricades.

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In the park, other than roasting chicken shish-kebabs on a make-shift barbeque and regularly letting off fire-crackers, the farmers in identical white and green Walloon Federation of Agriculture (FWA) t-shirts peacefully protested while farmers' union leaders made a series of speeches.

Meanwhile in the centre of town, their Flemish counterparts handed out agricultural products to passers-by, in attempt, according to organisers, to remind Belgian citizens of the importance and quality of their products.

Truckers, for their part, drove at snail's pace around the city's ring road, honking as they went and disrupting all traffic. Police directed all other cars away from the centre of town.

European leaders are to meet on Thursday and Friday in the city for their regular June summit. On the agenda is a discussion of the growing crisis arising from skyrocketing oil prices.

The protests of the farmers were technically separate from that of the truckers and only taking place on the same day by coincidence, although the protesters strongly supported each other, they said.

"There's been a scissors affect, where the prices farmers are paid are going down and the fuel costs are always rising, and it's cutting into farmers," said Yves Somville, the director of services with the FWA. "It's really getting to the point where it's too difficult to do our job."

"The volatility of commodity prices also has to be dealt with. Of course this is bad for consumers, but it also does not allow farmers to make long-term investment decisions, as they do not know what sort of prices they will be dealing with."

The farmers were also protesting changes to the EU's common agricultural policy and a range of Belgian government policies.

Specifically, the protester want the EU to take a strong negotiating stance in defence of Belgian farmers in WTO talks. They believe trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, who is conducting trade negotiations for the EU, will support changes to world trade rules that would reduce farm incomes.

Finally, the protesters are calling for "a just price" to be paid to producers.

"Although the price of commodities is increasing and hitting consumers as well, farmers are seeing none of this," said Mr Somville. "The supermarkets always say it's out of their hands, blaming other links in the supply chain, but we need more transparency along this chain.

No tariff reductions on third world agriculture

The farmers do not want to see any reduction in tariffs on farm products from non-European countries.

This position brings the farmers into conflict with third-world governments, who decry being forced to open their markets to northern manufactured goods while EU and North American markets remain closed to their agricultural products.

Mr Somville however does not see it this way. "International trade in agriculture represents only five percent of the sector. Most farm products are consumed nationally, so opening Europe to third world agriculture will only hurt farmers here while doing little for farmers there.

The farmers' union leader said he regularly has contact with his counterparts in the developing world, particularly unions in Senegal and other parts of French-speaking Africa. "We are not in competition with each other," he said.

Responding to the protests, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme told the farmers that he was not able to provide much in the way of direct financial assistance, but that he would pressure the commission to make no concessions in WTO negotiations that would hurt European agriculture.

"I will not allow markets to be opened up to the detriment of agriculture," he said.

"People are right to defend what they are doing," he added, according to the AP. "They need an income and at the moment, in the market, the way prices are made, I think we have some problems."

The peaceful nature of the protest comes in marked contrast to demonstrations in Brussels' European quarter a fortnight ago by fishermen from Spain, France, Italy and Portugal. Then, fishermen also protesting fuel prices set fires and overturned cars. Some 74 were arrested at the time and three people were injured.

Fuel protests by farmers, truck drivers, fishermen and others have spread rapidly around the world in recent weeks, following on from widespread food riots in much of the developing world earlier in the year.

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