Anger in Brussels. Hundreds of tractors paralyzed the center of the Belgian capital on Monday, February 26, on the sidelines of a meeting of agriculture ministers from the 27 countries that paved the way for simplifications to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). As on February 1, the city where the headquarters of the European Commission is located once again became the epicenter of agricultural anger: around 900 agricultural vehicles were counted by the police. To defuse dissatisfaction, member states called on the Commission to come up with a plan to “simplify” the CAP rules. Brussels will present its first ideas on Monday. Follow our live stream.
Incidents due to an “ultra-violent” minority. Government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot accused “a hundred violent farmers” of being the cause of the incidents during Emmanuel Macron's visit on Saturday. They are “there to fight,” she denounced on RMC. These demonstrators were “not representative of farmers at all” and made “extremely shocking” comments such as “We are home,” reminiscent of those heard at right-wing extremist meetings, she ruled.
Gabriel Attal denounces Jordan Bardella's “media circus”. The Prime Minister was invited to the Agricultural Exhibition on Sunday to attend the dinner in honor of the event's 60th anniversary. He took the opportunity to criticize the arrival of Jordan Bardella and his “media circus”. “I think that Mr. Macron is suffering from a worrying and dangerous schizophrenia,” the leader of the National Assembly said earlier in the day.
Meeting of agriculture ministers in Brussels. Twenty-seven agriculture ministers will discuss proposals to simplify and loosen the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Brussels on Monday, under pressure from hundreds of tractors parading in the Belgian capital. As of dawn, there will be “at least several hundred” tractors, “between 500 and 800,” to paralyze the European district again, estimates Fugea, the second Walloon agricultural association.