Dairy farmers from across Europe have gathered in Brussels to take part in a demonstration for better renumeration for Europe’s farmers. The demonstration that has been organised by the umbrella organisation of European dairy farming federations, the European Milk Board, started at the Luxemburgplein in front of the European Parliament at 12 noon.
Initially Brussels police had expected major traffic disruption as was the case with previous farmers' demonstrations. However, this doesn’t seem to have materialised. The organiser, the European Milk Board (EMB), says it intends the demonstration to be peaceful and serene.
From the Luxemburgplein the demonstrators marched on to the Wetstraat to a Council of the European Union building where a meeting of the Council of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers is in being held. Later the farmers will return to the Luxemburgplein.
Structural reforms
The European Milk Board denounces what it describes as "neoliberal" European agricultural policy. Just under two weeks before the European elections the European Milk Board is demanding a structural reform of the European Union's Common European Agricultural Policy.
The organision says that farmers, especially young farmers, need to be given prospects for their future and a structural reform of the Common European Agricultural Policy is needed. The European Milk Board’s Chair Kjartan Poulsen told the Brussels regional news platform Bruzz that "We no longer want farmers to depend on subsidies to survive, but need a system that can let us live off what we earn".
Farmers' organisations are also calling to become "genuinely involved" in the design and implementation of the European Green Deal.