Brussels – Protests, fires, and tractors: protests by farmers and trade associations began at dawn this morning in the square in front of the European Parliament, Place du Luxembourg, while a few hundred meters away in Brussels, Heads of State and Government are meeting in an Extraordinary European Dedicated Summit to break the deadlock on the long-term interim budget review for (2021-2027). 
According to local media, some 1,000 tractors are parked symbolically in the European Quarter in Brussels, protesting against overly stringent EU policies and rising fuel prices. Also present was Coldiretti that explained to Eunews that it wanted to ask the EU for “more congruous rules that would allow us to work in a more stable manner, with lower costs and, above all, be more competitive in terms of production.” Protesters also tore down and burnt one of the five statutes dating back to 1871 that are at the center of Luxembourg Square, the one representing a steelworker, Beaufort, one of the main collaborators of the Belgian rail pioneer Joch Cockerill, whose statute is at the center of the art complex.
Yves Rouyet@YvesRouyet#ixelles Une des sculptures historiques (1871 ) de la place du Luxembourg a été démontée par les agriculteurs et mise au feu. Elle représente un ouvrier sidérurgiste.
D’un point de vue patrimonial, c’est irréparable. D’un point de vue symbolique, c’est à pleurer
https://twitter.com/YvesRouyet/status/1752971940568915979
A Coldiretti representative explained that Brussels is “continuing to take away subsidies that agriculture needs for its subsistence, from farm diesel to the 4 percent set-aside requirement” under the CAP. “It’s not a system that allows farmers to sustain their farm and their family and, therefore, they are moving away from the land,” he concludes. 
To dampen tempers, yesterday, the European Commission extended its hand to farmers by granting a one-year extension to 4 percent set-aside obligation waiver: “They waiver them for twelve months, and then it starts all over again. We want a solid policy pointing to the future for us and consumers because you buy our stuff in the supermarket.”
The tractors arrived in Brussels after marching in various EU countries, from France to Germany via Poland and, to some extent, Italy. It is not hard to imagine that the farmers’ protests will also come up at today’s European Council, although not formally on the agenda. In the run-up to European elections in June, many center-right leaders are riding on the instances and anger of farmers, who are asking the EU for a break from the green goals of the Green Deal.
Upon his arrival in Brussels last night, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made it known that he had met with farmers protesting against the challenges faced by European farmers due to current EU policies and competition from Ukrainian agriculture. A post on X clarified that “the Commission should represent the interests of European farmers against those of Ukraine, and not the other way around.” 
It’s not just Hungary: France is also among the countries where protests are loudest, and French President Emmanuel Macron will have talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the Elysée Palace said in recent days, noting that they would take place on the sidelines of the extraordinary summit. They will focus, in particular, on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, set-aside land imposed on farmers, and the arrival of Ukrainian products in the Union, according to the French presidency. “We see you, and we hear you. But if you want your voice to be heard, let it also be heard in June when we go to vote in the European elections,” said the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, arriving at the extraordinary summit.
“We enter the campaign period. We need to realize that there are sectors that we have not listened to enough,” Metsola explained. “We need to understand that if there is frustration, either we have not communicated well enough or we have not consulted enough. We need to say so and be honest with our citizens.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
