Portuguese farm boss: Brussels protest pointless if EU rules don’t change

The farmers’ protests in Brussels mean nothing if lawmakers fail to follow up with concrete EU regulation, Luís Mira, secretary-general of the Portuguese Farmers’ Confederation, said in response to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s speech laying out a “set of intentions”.

On Monday, EU agriculture ministers met to the sound of uninterrupted firecrackers as protesters set bonfires in front of the security perimeter set up by the police to block the advance of the thousands of farmers towards the building where EU agriculture ministers were meeting.

“It’s a show of force. It’s exactly so that there’s no doubt about the determination of farmers and the need to change the rules regarding the Common Agricultural Policy [CAP],” Luís Mira, who is also part of the delegation taking part in the protests, told Lusa.

Von der Leyen “announced a set of intentions” that “need to be put into EU regulations”, Mira added.

“Until [EU regulations] are changed, none of this has any practical effect. What farmers from all over Europe are saying here today is that it is necessary to put into practice what was the political discourse,” he added.

The federation’s secretary-general demanded that all changes proposed during the EU agriculture ministers’ meeting be approved and amended in the national legislation of each member state.

“People think this has already been resolved. It’s already been changed. It’s not until the regulation is changed until the rules are changed,” he added.

Most of the scheduled meetings were cancelled as farmers clashed with security forces outside the Council of the EU building.

Only the agriculture ministers are continuing to discuss the proposed new measures

(André Campos Ferrão – edited by Pedro Sousa Carvalho | Lusa.pt)