Farmers take to the streets in Belgium to protest against the EU-Mercosur agreement

(Photo: Pixabay)

According to the information, the farmers blocked roads and highways in the southeastern part of Belgium’s Wallonia region, around Liege. The Belgian Young Farmers’ Association (FJA), which organized the movement, said that decisive measures were needed, “to continue the fight against the Mercosur agreement to avoid the countryside going up in flames.” The action is also supported by the Walloon agricultural union Fugea, it wrote. The government of the southern Belgian province of Hainaut has issued a decree restricting tractor traffic on motorways until 10pm on Thursday. According to the decree, tractors can drive onto the motorway in justified cases, but for safety reasons they cannot obstruct traffic. Provincial governor Tommy Leclerc said he understood the anger over the free trade agreement and promised to pass on the farmers’ demands to the Walloon and federal governments. He also pledged to meet with representatives of agricultural unions in the evening. The relevant heads of the European Union institutions and representatives of the countries of the South American Common Market (Mercosur) – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, whose membership has been suspended since 2016 – will gather in Uruguay on Thursday and Friday to finalise the free trade agreement.

The European Council, which brings together the leaders of the EU member states, can finalize the adoption of the agreement at the summit scheduled for December 19-20

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, published a message on the X social portal on Thursday, in which she wrote: she has arrived at the meeting venue, “the finish line of the EU-Mercosur agreement is already in sight”. “Let’s work to cross it,” she said. She said: the European Union and the countries concerned now have the opportunity to create a market of 700 million people, “through the largest trade and investment partnership the world has ever seen”. The agreement will benefit both regions, the President of the EU Commission added in her message. According to the European Commission, the EU-Mercosur trade agreement aims to increase bilateral trade and investment and reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. They aim to create more stable and predictable trade and investment rules through better and stronger rules, for example in the areas of intellectual property rights, food safety standards, competition and good regulatory practices.

MTI