Europe’s current swelling of agrarian discontent will reach the doors of the EU tomorrow as thousands of farmers are expected to descend on central Brussels to blockade the city ahead of the European Council summit.
Tractor blockades are in place around the city tonight. Farmers briefly blockaded a major supply centre for the Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt 20 kilometres southwest of Brussels Sunday as farmers rally against punishing new green regulations and the threats posed to the European agricultural sector by the war in Ukraine.
Barricades and barbed wire were seen around both the European Parliament and Commission building Wednesday afternoon as a small convoy of tractors remained parked five minutes away from the EU’s administrative hub since Monday.
The planned farmer demonstrations coincide with this week’s European Council meeting. The prime ministers of all 27 EU members are expected to arrive to discuss the bloc’s future funding commitments to Ukraine amid a growing disagreement with Hungary over the country’s stance against going into debt to fund Ukraine’s war efforts.
Farming representatives have indicated that they will judge on the ground how long the direct action to disrupt the city should continue. Authorities are expected to seal off the central European Quarter from 8 a.m. tomorrow. One farmer said, “Time is up. EU leaders must think of the farmers. Talk to the farmers rather than about the farmers.”
Italy and Lithuania became the latest countries to see farmer protests Wednesday.Farmers argue that Europe has reached a crunch point in saving its agricultural industry from the negative effects of the EU’s green transition and cheap imports from countries not obligated to adhere to EU regulations.
There are signs that the series of farmer demonstrations rocking European urban cities is having a measurable influence on EU policy. The Commission recently ceded token ground on harsh new rewilding edicts, and in France, the Macron government backtracked on the Mercosur trade agreement with South America following farmer protests.
