Farmers send a message to EU leaders with fires, stones and eggs

Brussels — Farmers threw eggs and stones at the European parliament on Thursday, starting fires near the building and setting off fireworks amid protests to press a summit of EU leaders to do more to help them with taxes and rising costs.

Major thoroughfares in Brussels were blocked by about 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.

Farmers from Italy, Spain and other European countries took part in the demonstration in Brussels, as well as continuing their protests at home.

They say they are not being paid enough, are choked by taxes and green rules, and face unfair competition from abroad.

Farmers elsewhere in Europe are similarly disgruntled, with protests in Germany, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Greece and Belgium coming after a new farmers’ party scored highly in Dutch elections.

The protests come ahead of European parliament elections in June in which the far right, for whom farmers represent a growing constituency, is seen making gains.

Worryingly for French President Emmanuel Macron and other EU leaders, opinion polls show farmers’ grievances resonate with the public.

An Elabe poll showed 87% of French people support the farmers’ cause and 73% of them consider the EU a handicap for farmers, not an asset.

The protests could also imperil the EU’s green agenda. Poll projections show an “anti-climate policy action coalition” could be formed in the new legislature in June.

Farmers have already secured several measures that go some way to meeting their demands, including the bloc’s proposals to limit farm imports from Ukraine and loosen some environmental regulations on fallow lands.

And on Thursday France announced it will enshrine in law the principle that it should be self-reliant in food and it will tighten import controls.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal also said France will step up safety checks on food imports, notably to make sure that imported foods do not have traces of pesticides that are banned in France or the EU.

But farmers say they want more from EU leaders.

“You know what’s happening: European 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 go to the street,” said Jose Maria Castilla, who represents Spanish farmers’ union Asaja.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who disagrees with other EU leaders on many issues, made a point of meeting farmers overnight. “We need to find new leaders who truly represent the interests of the people,” his spokesperson quoted him as saying, referring to the European parliament elections.

Earlier in the week the European Commission rejected a French view that Brussels had put an end to talks with the Mercosur group of South American countries, saying it is still aiming to conclude a free-trade agreement.

On Thursday Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar echoed Macron’s opposition to signing a trade deal with Mercosur in its current form — another key demand for farmers.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday the deal is key for his country “in the geopolitical and economic relationship we should have with such an important continent”.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he is a “big fan” of free trade agreements, including with Mercosur.

Reuters