BRUSSELS — The European Commission on Monday offered measures worth 500 million euros ($557 million) to help farmers facing economic problems, but farmers said the package was not sufficient, following a day of angry protest in Brussels.

Farmers have been hard-hit by a Russian ban on European food imports, implemented amid political tensions over the crisis in Ukraine. Slowing growth in China and a summer drought in Europe have also contributed to the pressure on farms, whose incomes have plunged.

Tractors drive through Brussels on Monday as thousands of farmers demonstrated against income losses. “EU farmers are paying the price for international politics,” said an agricultural leader about the Russian ban on European food. The Associated Press

The situation is said to be especially dire in the dairy, pork, beef, fruit and vegetable sectors.

The commission presented its aid package to EU agriculture ministers at special talks on the challenges facing the industry. The bulk of the funding is to go directly to member states, with the advice that they spend it predominantly on dairy farmers.

In addition, a private storage scheme is to be set up for pig meat, while a scheme for dairy products will be expanded. The commission also presented plans to help boost exports to countries outside the EU.

But the plans drew criticism from European farmers’ organization Copa and its partner Cogeca, which represents agriculture cooperatives. They were both involved in organizing Monday’s protests.

“An aid package of 500 million euros is nowhere enough to compensate farmers for the loss of their main export market, Russia, worth 5.5 billion euros annually,” Copa-Cogeca chief Pekka Pesonen said in a statement. “EU farmers are paying the price for international politics.”

French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll was also dissatisfied with the outcome of Monday’s talks. He had pushed for an increase in prices paid to farmers for buying up excess produce, but the move was opposed by the commission and countries such as Germany.

The ministers agreed to hold further technical negotiations to prepare for a new round of political talks next week.

Ahead of Monday’s meeting in the European quarter of Brussels, thousands of farmers descended on the Belgian capital to vent their anger, snagging traffic and clashing with police.

Police estimated that up to 2,500 people and 200 tractors made their way through Brussels, the Belga news agency wrote. Copa and Cogeca put the numbers at 5,000 farmers and 1,500 tractors.

The European Milk Board was also holding a separate protest.

Belgian farmers were thought to make up the lion’s share of the Copa-Cogeca demonstration, but there were also 2,200 producers from France and 800 farmers from Germany expected, spokeswoman Amanda Cheesley said.

German farmer Volker Vienna called for fairer wages. “It’s not enough to make ends meet. The bills are stacking up,” he said. “There has to be something left over for us.”

“If you need new machines you need to take up a credit at the bank, because you can’t put any money aside. We need EU-wide crisis management,” added Jan Borchers, who one day wants to take over his father’s farm.

In the afternoon, police officers used tear gas against demonstrators who were throwing paving stones and bottles, Belga reported. The police also used water cannon to disperse protesters and put out burning bales of hay.

Four police officers and at least two demonstrators were reported injured during the protests, but no arrests were made, the news agency wrote.

Hundreds of kilometers of traffic jams had also been reported on Belgian roads and highways leading to Brussels in the morning, because of the tractors.

The EU had already implemented a series of support measures to help farmers cope with the Russian food ban, such as public purchases of agriculture goods and funds to help cover the costs of putting products into storage for later sales.

Related Stories