Politicians are offering help to farmers who have staged protests with tractor blockades and this week pelting police with eggs, beer bottles and firecrackers in front of the European Union’s head offices in Brussels.
With thick smoke from burning bales of hay hanging over parts of the Belgian capital, security forces used water cannons to douse fires and keep a farmer from felling a tree on the steps of the European Parliament.
The farmers are experiencing a cost-price squeeze, much of it related to Russia’s attacks on the Ukraine. That has increased costs, such as fertilizer and energy and has triggered a flood of imports because Ukraine’s ports have been ruined.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, announced plans Wednesday to shield farmers from cheap imports from Ukraine during wartime and allow farmers to use some land that had been forced to lie fallow for environmental reasons.
Earlier in the week, the government in France, where the protests have been particularly disruptive, promised farmers help, including emergency cash aid and controls on imported food.
The European Parliament was focused on an aid package for the Ukraine, but swiftly responded to farmers.
“We also need to make sure that they can get the right price for the high quality products that they provide. We also need to make sure that the administrative burden that they have remains reasonable,” said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo whose country currently holds the presidency of the EU.
