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BRUSSELS WAS IN gridlock today as protesting farmers shut down the city centre over what they say is a sector in crisis.
After days of demonstrations in France, Germany and Belgium, farmers have taken their grievances over pay, bureaucracy and fuel prices, among other things, to the EU’s doorstep.
Traffic jams plagued streets surrounding the European Parliament, as tractors, trailers and hay bales occupied the city’s centre.
Smoke filled the air as farmers burned the bales, as well as tyres and wooden pallets.
Much anger is directed at environmental requirements included in the EU’s updated Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the bloc’s forthcoming “Green Deal”.
Anti-riot police deployed water cannons in response to protestors throwing bottles, rocks and eggs.
Signs read, “Politicians don’t even know what a cow is but write stupid laws”, and “If you sow misery, you reap anger”.
Loud bangs from flash bombs scared off some onlookers, while others joined in, drinking and talking to the farmers.
Caroline is a PhD student, with a focus on food security. She travelled two hours by train today to show solidarity with farmers.
“It’s good that Europe has a significant presence in policy, but I think farmers also need to be given the chance to implement it,” she said.
She said today’s scenes were not as violent in comparison to other recent protests.
According to Caroline, it’s significant that so many individual farmers went to today’s demonstration of their own accord, unlike some protests where only union representatives get involved.
Stefan and Konstantinos work in the energy sector. They told The Journal that changes are coming, but farmers should be protected.
“Everybody is going to be affected … but that doesn’t mean that states, the EU itself, cannot, for example, subsidise them or help them in order to [make the transition] smooth,” Stefan said.
Konstantinos said the protest was mild in comparison to some demonstrations in Romania, where he is from.
One business owner on Place de Luxembourg, the square one on which the parliament is situated, told The Journal that his restaurant was largely unaffected by the riots. Inside, people were drinking and eating like they would any day. The music was loud enough to drown out the sound of horns and explosions happening just metres away.
A waiter in the bar next door described the hubbub as “fun”. “I think it’s right that they are standing up for their rights,” he said.
Posting on X, Irish Green MEP Ciarán Cuffe shared a video of the protests as he arrived at the European Parliament today.
Cuffe wrote alongside the video: “Challenging trip into work today. There are real concerns about farm incomes and trade deals, but rock-throwing is not the answer.”
The police presence was sparse in the late afternoon, but as the sun set, riot police formed a wall and descended upon protestors. Some taunted police, one even doing wheelies on an electric scooter in front of them.
In France, farmers blocked motorways leading to Paris in an effort to get the attention of the government.
Arnaud Rousseau, chief of the biggest rural union FNSEA, and Young Farmers (JA) president Arnaud Gaillot held a news conference to announce the suspension of the action.
That followed promises of cash, eased regulations and protection against unfair competition by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, the government’s second wave of concessions in a week.
Rousseau hailed “real progress” and said Attal had been “listening”.
But he also reserved harsh criticism for the “deafness” of European-level officials, lambasting the “technocratic structure walled into its Brussels offices”.
The FNSEA and JA account for most of French farmers’ union memberships.
In Germany, strategic routes leading to Hamburg’s port area were blockaded, disrupting access to the country’s biggest such facility and one of the busiest in Europe for international container shipping.
Other smaller ports along the country’s northern coast — Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven — were also hit by tractor blockades.
Irish farmers staged their own protests today in solidarity with their European counterparts.
They turned out on main roads in Galway, Longford, Westmeath, and elsewhere, driving tractors adorned with signs saying “no farm, no food” and “enough is enough”.
The Irish Farmers’ Association called for the demonstrations in support of fellow European farmers, as “excessive regulation is forcing them out of business”.
The president of the Brussels-based Copa-Cogeca farming cooperative, which represents more than 20 million farmers in the EU, praised Irish farmers and welcomed them to the movement.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was in Brussels today for talks about EU aid to Ukraine. He said that although agriculture and farming were not on the agenda for today’s meeting, it was discussed by leaders last night in light of the protests.
“The priority for us should be implementing existing rules and regulations and not imposing new additional ones on farmers over the next couple of years,” Varadkar said.
He added that when it comes to EU trade deals, we cannot have a situation where farmers in the EU must obey certain regulations that imported products do not need to adhere to.
With reporting by Jane Moore and — © AFP 2024
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Heartbreaking.
Unimaginable pain waking up not knowing what happened to your kid .
I was in college in Dublin when he went missing. It struck a chord with those of us around his age.
I hope some new and relevant information will be found.
I’m exactly the same Philip and I remember the story and his face just stuck with me so well. I can’t imagine how his family feel if it struck us all at that time so deep. Some closure is really needed on his case.
It was a horrible windy wet night when Trevor disappeared. I used to work in the area and remember all the volunteers sticking “Missing” notices up as the days went on and on. God bless his poor family not knowing what happened.
Honestly though what the hell happened to this guy ? This story still to this day gives me the chills ! he literally vanished into thin air ! Scary. Heart goes out to the family.
Many think he slipped into the canal and locks were open/opened later and out to liffey then sea. Its v sad. I remember this case well.
@Boo!-Fight the Board: That would need grand canal docks to be empty.
Did he have to walk over the Dodder on his route home?
I often thought about that myself but there’s a lot of water between Baggot Street and where the Canal meets the liffey. Surly somebody would have spotted a body in very slow moving water.. I think Donal McIntyre done a documentary on this case and he had a lad in a black hoody on CCTV following Trevor in a few places on his walk home..
@Get Lost Eircodes: Yeah, he had to cross the canal and the Dodder. They were flowing unusually fast because of all the rain.
I remember this happening very well, Trevor was same age group, it was a shock, a fit strong young man going missing like that. I remember walking to my student flat in Ranelagh same night, it was miserable and wet, no taxis (and even when they were running you could be waiting an hour or more to get one from the city centre) then all the posters going up.
The Gardai were very slow off the mark and missed a lot of basic stuff though. There would be no cctv footage if his friend Conleth Loonan hadn’t got it preserved by the bank. They never retrieved the last voicemail he left on his friends fphone that was deleted. The email he sent from work on his way home wasn’t retrieved. Who knows what would have been found if the canal and river were searched earlier?
That’s sad. Especially at this time of year
I can’t even imagine how families get on with their daily life after something like this. The not knowing, it’s just awful. Someone has to know something, Dublin is never ever quiet, even at that time.
Just terrible somebody knows something.
It’s hard to grasp the concept of a fully grown human being simply just “vanishing”. And possessions, or things, cannot evaporate into thin air either. Like, we all wear coats, shoes, maybe jewellery, and Trevor was carrying a huge golf umbrella that night too, surely even one thing belonging to him was found, or has surfaced? The eerie CCTV footage showing Trevor being followed closely is no benefit either, even if it was someone trying to mug him for his wallet, or if he had been injured by them, some evidence would be left behind. How have his poor family lived with all the ifs & buts of this whole ghastly scenario hanging over them, for so long, is just beyond human endurance.
Thoughts with his family this time of year, an awful experience for them.
The recent documentary showed CCTV footage where he is clearly being followed. It quite chilling to see.
Very sad for all concerned but should have highlighted the need for more CCTV in the capital just like they have in London.
VERY SAD
Terrible on the family,may the perpetrators rot in hell
You don’t know whether there is or is not a perpetrator (s) Tommy.
it is one of 3 things, there may not be any perpetrators.
(1) Accident
(2) Murder/Abduction
(3) Voluntary disappearance ( extremely unlikely by all accounts but cannot be 100% definitively ruled out since he just completely disappeared)
As a father it was something like this that had my nerves gone when they were out socialising.I feel so sorry for trevors father.It must be awful.
God 16 years? Doesnt seem like it. I have a son now myself and its awful to imagine. Hope can be a cruel mistress
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