Some 2,700 tractors invaded Brussels on Friday in protest against the plan of the government of the Flemish region to reduce nitrogen emissions from farm slurry, which according to the agricultural sector will have a significant economic impact on producers.
Traffic in the center and at access points to the Belgian capital was badly affected today by the march called by the Flemish agricultural unions, which are demanding “profound changes” in a plan that, they claim, will cause “a social and economic bloodbath”.
The tractors began arriving in Brussels around 10:00 local time and crossed the city along some of its main roads, heading to the Arts-Loi area, near the European quarter.
Lode Ceyssens, president of the Flemish trade union Boerenbond, asked the Flemish government to stop “showing muscle” and work to “seek solutions” that would give the sector “a future perspective” and make it possible to guarantee food safety, the Belgian agency reported.
In the event that in the end a “bad agreement” is reached, the unions do not exclude taking the plan to court.
The agricultural unions in Flanders criticize in particular that the regional executive ignores the needs of farmers and warn of the danger of becoming dependent on “foreign food that meets much lower standards in terms of sustainability, quality and animal welfare”.
The plan on nitrogen emissions, which has been on the table for months, has even generated tensions in the governing coalition in Flanders, composed of the nationalists of the N-VA, the Flemish liberals (Open Vld) and the Christian democrats of CD&V.
The aim of the plan is to curb emissions from farms in the north of the country, many of which are intensive pig and poultry farms.
It provides, among other measures, the closure of some farms considered large emitters of nitrogen.
What Flemish producers are demanding is “a good agreement” on this plan, as well as the immediate approval of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Flanders, indicate in a statement the agricultural unions in the region.
“The nitrogen agreement in its current form generates a socio-economic carnage in the agricultural sector and the wider agri-food chain. We call for a complete adjustment of the nitrogen agreement and a future perspective where farmers can continue to provide local, sustainable and healthy food with the highest quality standards,” they said.