Farmers from across Europe, including Ireland, have convened a mass protest in Brussels to raise concerns about agricultural conditions and they’re fears over an EU trade deal with south America.
One EU diplomat said that he expected the farmers congregating in Brussels to number in the “tens of thousands”.
Police have warned to expect disruption throughout the city.
The President of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), Francie Gorman, set off on his tractor on Monday in order to arrive in time to join the protest.
The demonstration has been organised by the European farmers’ union, Copa-Cogeca.
The union said that farmers wanted to voice their anger at “unacceptable” Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms, EU budget cuts, as well as “unfair EU trade policies and burdensome bureaucracy.”
Farmers from 25 European countries are expected to take part.
Francie Gorman said he was attending because he wants to ensure that farming is “viable for the next generation.”
The demonstration coincides with a meeting in Brussels of the 27 heads of state and government including Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
EU leaders are due to discuss a range of important issues including future financing for Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and migration.
They will also discuss the future 2028-34 EU budget worth an estimated €2 trillion.
The European Commission has proposed that that new budget should merge CAP with other types of funding raising fears that farmers will be sidelined.
A number of EU leaders are also expected to raise concerns about the Mercosur agreement, a free trade deal the EU is ready to sign-off with south American countries.
On Tuesday, the European Parliament voted through extra safeguards for farmers including the ability to freeze the agreement if Europe is flooded with south American beef or other products.
But concerns about the Mercosur deal remain.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is supposed to go to Brazil on Saturday to sign the deal.
France and Italy are pushing for a delay.
On Tuesday, Minister of State for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne, said he thought a decision was now more likely to take place in January.
“There are certain countries that have concerns about it, the Irish government has some concerns as well”, he said.
“There are huge benefits to global trade agreements. Ireland actually benefits much more than most other countries so they’re very important to Ireland.
There have been certain issues here in relation to one part of the farming sector which is the beef sector which countries want to see addressed.
And I think people are still working things through with the European Commission to see that the concerns be addressed. But if those concerns can be addressed, then you have a trade agreement that benefits actually many farmers in Ireland and benefits the wider economy.”
Francie Gorman said he would be “showing solidarity with our fellow EU farmers” by attending the rally in Brussels.
According to the IFA, it will be the biggest farmers’ demonstration in a decade and will focus on three key themes:
- the CAP budget,
- trade deals including the Mercosur trade deal
- and “excessive” regulation around the cost of doing business.