About 100 tractors will gather at Parc Cinquantenaire in Brussels on Thursday, as farmers will protest the cut in the future EU budget that will be discussed at the special EU summit.
"They will gather in front of the main entrance of Parc Cinquantenaire, as they cannot arrive in front of the Council building and Schuman roundabout," said Anne Petre, a spokesperson for the Walloon Farmers Association (FWA).
The initial aim was to gather on Schuman, in front of the Council building, but as security perimeters will be set up around Rond Point Schuman, the farmers will get as close as they can on Rue de la Loi in the "free expression zone."
"The farmers want to address (President of the European Council) Charles Michel regarding his budget proposal, and just be present while the discussions about the financial framework will take place at the Summit," Ksenija Simovic of Copa-Cogeca, an interest group representing about 22 million European farmers, told The Brussels Times.
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The farmers will start gathering around 10:00 AM, but the protest will start around noon, according to Copa-Cogeca. The Walloon Federation of Agriculture, the European Young Farmers' Organisation CEJA, and several other agricultural unions will be present at the static protest against Michel's budget proposal.
The farmers will be protesting the budget cuts for the Common Agricultural Policy compared to the current programming period in the future EU budget.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
