Violent fuel protests in Brussels
Dozens of fishermen arrested in Brussels during protest against rising fuel prices.
Published On 4 Jun 2008
The protesters also want the European Union to intervene by raising the amount of financial aid that a government may grant to its fisheries sector without attracting the scrutiny of EU internal market regulators.
A handful of demonstrators met Joe Borghe, the chief political adviser to the EU fisheries commissioner, to explain their grievances on Wednesday.
EU leaders will discuss the impact of high oil prices on Europe’s fisheries sector at a summit in mid-June, Borghe said.
The sector also suffered from overcapacity and badly needed to restructure, he said, to the jeers of the fishermen.
Meanwhile, in France, truckers, taxi drivers and farmers also protesting against fuel costs blocked traffic on roads leading to Paris’ Roissy airport, causing 7km of tailbacks.
A similar protest by more than a hundred truckers brought chaos to the ring road around the southern city of Toulouse.
While a number of ports, including Dieppe on the Channel coast, remain blocked by fishermen seeking more government aid.
The French government is due to hold talks with the various parties involved on June 10.
Source: News Agencies