BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — About 5,000 European milk producers will gather on September 7 in Brussels to call on EU institutions and authorities to increase the prices paid for dairy products, undermined by cheap imports, the European Milk Board (EMB) campaign group said Thursday.
The protest will be held on the same day as an emergency summit of the Agriculture Council of the European Union, aimed at addressing the negative impact of Russia’s food embargo on the EU food market.
Some 1,000 tractors, mainly from Belgium, France and Germany, are expected to join the demonstration to demand fairer prices and political reforms, the EMB said on its website.
According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, the average price of milk in the European market has significantly dropped in the last year from $1.68 per gallon to $1.26, which fails to cover production costs, pushing many dairy producers into bankruptcy.