Farmers and tractors assembled in Kirchberg today in protest of falling milk prices, despite attempts from the Luxembourg authorities to put measures in place to prevent such demonstrations.

The protest is the second of its kind in two weeks, following a discussion between Luxembourg Minister for Agriculture, Viticulture and Consumer Protection, Fernand Etgen and agricultural organisations of the Grand Duchy on 1 September 2015, which lasted for several hours.

Today, the second protest has been organised to coincide with the informal meeting of Agricultural Ministers, who have gathered in the Grand Duchy under the Luxembourg Presidency to discuss the package of measures proposed by the European Commission to help tackle the cash-flow difficulties currently faced by farmers around Europe, as well as develop solutions to stabilising the market and addressing the functioning of the supply chain.

Farmers and tractors converged near the conference centre in Place de l'Europe where the meeting was being held, blocking off several traffic routes in Kirchberg. According to the Grand Ducal Police, just after 10:00 this morning around 50 tractors arrived in Kirchberg within a few minutes, blocking access to the Grande-Duchesse Charlotte bridge and creating congestion on Boulevard JF Kennedy.

The aid plan put forward by the European Commission at the extraordinary Council of Agriculture Ministers on 7 September 2015 involved a proposed sum of €500 million to tackle with the difficulties faced by farmers and agriculturalists, with the measure package discussed today by Agricultural Ministers.

Following the extraordinary meeting on 7 September, Vice President of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture, Kyrki Katainen stated: "This package will allow farmers to immediately benefit from EU funding of €500 million. This is a decisive and vigorous action. This response shows that the Commission takes its responsibility to farmers verx seriously and it is ready to support them with adequate resources. This is a particularly significant gesture given the other current budgetary needs".

The Commission proposed that the package be distributed between all Member States to contribute to the support of the dairy sector, with flexibility allowed for on the part of the Member States to take into account their specific situations and how to allocate the aid.

Photos by Geoff Thompson