Europe is revolting… but not for the reason you might think

Today’s angry protest by farmers outside the European parliament in Brussels was the latest outbreak of public unrest to captivate the continent – but rather than being evidence that EU cooperation is fraying, the problem lies with ailing national governments, says Mary Dejevsky

Anti-riot police use water to disperse people during a protest by farmers outside the European parliament in Brussels (AP)

There is something uniquely seductive about a town-vs-country clash. In an age where urban and rural folk largely lead separate lives, the sight of farm vehicles and livestock intruding into usually ordered city streets has a jarring appeal.

The latest such stand-off was in Brussels, where upwards of 1,200 tractors today converged on the European parliament. The protest was directed at European leaders taking part in a special EU summit meeting not far away, and the ensuing contretemps followed a familiar script. The farmers lit bonfires, attacked statues, deposited manure and threw projectiles of various kinds at the police. The police, in full riot gear, laid about them with truncheons before resorting to hoses and water cannon.

It was one of the bigger, and angrier, shows of strength by European farmers in recent months but it was no isolated protest. Even as the mostly Belgian farmers descended on the capital’s Place du Luxembourg, their French counterparts were besieging Paris, threatening to “starve” the city into submission. Since last summer, there have been farmers’ protests in Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Poland.