Free trade translantic treaties: farmers support the Walloon “No” in Namur

Free trade translantic treaties: farmers support the Walloon “No” in Namur

Dozens of farmers went by tractor to the Walloon parliament in Namur, yesterday evening (Monday). Their aim was to support the government and Walloon deputies refusing to sign the free trade treaty between the European Union and Canada (CETA - the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement).

The Grouping of Milk Producers, MIG, and the United Federation of Groupings of Cattle-breeders and Farmers (FUGEA), gaining impetus through this demonstration, wished to show they are determined that the treaty should not be signed.

“If the treaty is binding in Belgium, we can kiss goodbye to family farming,” Françoise Tagnon of the MIG stressed.

She went on, “Exporting our milk products to Canada is also absurd, given that milk producers are in crisis over there. We do not wish to contribute to it.”

Other similar gatherings were anticipated in front of the city hall in Liège, on the sidelines of the municipal city council meeting, and in Brussels, before the federal-regions coordination committee.

At the beginning of the afternoon, the Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, officially communicated to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, that Belgium was not ready to sign the trade agreement with Canada.


The Brussels Times


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