Brussels streets will again be filled with farmers on protest next week, as part of a push against a proposed trade deal between the EU and Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay).
The Walloon farmer's federation FUGEA has confirmed that it will lead a protest to denounce the EU-Mercosur Agreement next Wednesday (13 November) in Brussels.
The agreement, which could be finalised during the G20 summit in Brazil on 18 and 19 November, will remove tariffs on most products between the two regions.
The European Commission has pitched the agreement as a "win-win for both the EU and Mercosur, creating opportunities for growth, jobs and sustainable development on both sides".
Farmer concerns
Farmers in the EU are concerned about more agricultural products being imported from Mercosur to the EU, particularly beef.
They fear that cheap products that are not subject to the same requirements as those imposed on European producers, will flood the European market, creating unfair competition.
"These imports are unfair competition for our breeders; the standards are much lower, the meat costs less and pushes down market prices. It will encourage industrial meat production in Brazil and thus lead to massive deforestation," Fugea said on Thursday.
The federation last week called on Walloon Agriculture Minister Anne-Catherine Dalcq and Federal Agriculture Minister David Clarinval to publicly oppose the agreement.
While it has been reported that the European Commission is working on a new fund to compensate EU farmers for any negative impacts of the EU-Mercosur deal, Fugea has criticised this as a "crazy idea".
"To pass the treaty, some politicians are pushing a crazy new idea: compensating European farmers... hoping to erase the destructive consequences of beef imports for our farms and planet. We won't be fooled by so-called 'compensation'. Our farmers are not adjustment variables to be bought or sold."
Farmers took their tractors to the streets of Brussels on several occasions this year. Credit: Belga / James Arthur Gekiere
Dozens of tractors on Brussels streets
The farming federation is organising a demonstration in Brussels next Wednesday, along with other European farmers and members of European farming collective ECVC.
Fugea has said that allies from civil society will also be present, including the #StopUE-Mercosur coalition and RéSAP (a Belgian NGO that supports independent farmers).
Several dozen tractors are expected at the protest, which will begin at 11:00 at the crossroads of Rue de la Loi and Rue des Taciturnes. Speeches will be made by representatives of Fugea and ECVC, as well as supportive MEPs.
The protest follows several others by farmers earlier this year in Brussels. These denounced the EU-Mercosur deal and expressed a general frustration with strict European environmental rules and the shrinking incomes of those in the agricultural sector. The protest actions caused major disruption, bringing the Belgian capital to a halt and sparking violent clashes with police.
