LAST UPDATE | 8 hrs ago

PROTESTERS HAVE LIT fires and hurled potatoes at riot police who responded with teargas and water cannon in Brussels today, as tensions boiled over at a farmer demonstration against the EU’s planned trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur.

About 1,000 honking tractors rolled into the Belgian capital to heap pressure on an EU leaders’ summit where the deal’s fate hung in the balance.

The President of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and his 11-year-old son are among those travelling to the protest, and the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) has also sent over representatives. 

Representatives from ICSA protesting in Brussels alongside thousands of farmers from across Europe. ICSA ICSA

IFA president Francie Gorman said it was important that he and other Irish farmers be in Brussels to “stand with our colleagues from across Europe to deliver a strong and united message”.

Farmers worry the Mercosur deal – which will be discussed at the EU leaders meeting – will see them undercut by a flow of cheaper goods from agricultural giant Brazil and its neighbours.

They also oppose plans put forward by the European Commission to overhaul the 27-nation bloc’s huge farming subsidies, fearing less money will flow their way.

France and Italy have been calling for more robust safeguard clauses, tighter import controls and more stringent standards for Mercosur producers.

Firemen extinguish fire set by protestors during demonstration of European farmers near the European Parliament in Brussels Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

At least 7,000 farmers staged a mostly peaceful march through the capital’s European quarter, where the Mercosur deal loomed large over an EU summit focused on funding Ukraine’s war effort.

But rowdy scenes erupted outside the European Parliament, where farmers lit a bonfire of tires and hay and threw tubers at the police, who fired back with teargas – with black smoke filling surrounding streets.

Protestors burn tires during of European farmers outside the EU Summit meeting in Brussels Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Arriving at the summit in Brussels today, the Taoiseach said there is “no sense” of a resolution on Mercosur this week.

“We (the EU) have a very robust agricultural industry. We export €20 billion now. Our beef exports and our dairy exports are growing.

“Trade has been very good for Ireland. We’re conscious of that. But we will work with other like-minded countries.”

Martin also said the European Commission has been responsive to calls for safeguarding measures to be implemented, making the conditions stronger than they were last year.

Police carry away man who was injured in clashes during demonstration of European farmers near the European Parliament in Brussels Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Minister of State Sean Canney said Ireland has yet to decide whether it will support Mercosur, but the previous version of the deal “was not acceptable”.

“We need to make sure that we have our farmers protected,” he said.

Canney told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that it’s “complicated” because the conditions keep changing and the debate is still ongoing.

Many countries had sought for the vote to be held this month, but now it may not take place until the new year.

Farmers’ issues

Police stand behind a barrier as European farmers block a road Alamy Alamy

Walloon Agricultural Federation (FWA) said Brussels’ plans to slash the subsidies scheme by 20% while pushing ahead with the Mercosur deal were “totally unacceptable”.

FWA will be among more than 40 national farming groups represented at the demonstration.

The EU-Mercosur pact would create the world’s biggest free-trade area and help the EU to export more vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America at a time of global trade tensions.

Brussels EU farming unions to protest against Mercosur agreement Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

But farmers lament it would also facilitate the entry into Europe of beef, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans produced by their less-regulated South American counterparts.

IFA President Francie Gorman and his son Tom set out from the Irish Farm Centre in Bluebell, Dublin on Monday morning with a small convoy of other tractors following behind them.

They travelled south to catch a ferry from Rosslare to Dunkirk in France, before making their way to Brussels.

EU farming unions to protest against Mercosur agreement Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The father-son duo were in good spirits as representatives from many regional IFA groups waved them on their journey.

Gorman said he was travelling to Brussels to “stand with our colleagues from across Europe to deliver a strong and united message that an adequate budget is needed”.

The ICSA is also in Brussels and its secretary general Hugh Farrell said Irish farmers “had no choice but to make their voices heard”.

Police guard a barrier as farmers drive their tractors to block a main boulevard in Brussels Alamy Alamy

He said “agriculture is being sacrificed through reckless trade deals and proposals to slash the CAP budget”.

He also remarked that the Mercosur deal “completely undermines the standards European farmers are required to meet and poses a direct threat to the future of beef farming in Ireland”.

“European farmers will not be written off or sacrificed,” said Farrell.

“A fair CAP and fair trade are non-negotiable.”

With additional reporting by AFP and Diarmuid Pepper