06-06-2008, 05:34 AM
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BBC NEWS
Riot police confront fishermen in Brussels
Police have clashed with hundreds of fishermen
protesting against the high cost of fuel outside
the headquarters of the European Union in
Brussels.
Several windows in EU buildings were broken and
at least one car was overturned during the
demonstration.
Riot police responded by firing water cannon and launching baton charges.
The fishermen have said they will go out of
business unless the EU allows national
governments to give them more financial aid and
subsidise their fuel.
French fishermen have been on strike for several
weeks over the price of diesel, which has risen
by 240% in the past five years.
In recent days they have been joined by members
of fleets from the UK, Spain, Portugal and Italy,
who have blockaded ports across Europe, and truck
drivers.
Restructuring
With foghorns, flags and flares, hundreds of
mainly French and Italian fishermen stopped
traffic on the main road in the European district
of the Belgian capital.
We came here... to tell Europe to stop getting in
the way of the French government trying to help us
Philippe Margoud
After several hours of stand-off, the protest
turned violent. A car was overturned, bins were
set on fire and windows were smashed by flares.
Riot police lined up behind a barbed-wire
barricade in front of the European Commission
responded by attempting to disperse the crowd
with water cannons and baton charges.
Earlier, a delegation of fishermen met senior EU
officials briefly outside the Commission's
headquarters to explain their grievances and
demand emergency aid from both the EU and their
countries' governments.
Philippe Margoud, a fisherman from the French
Mediterranean port of Agde, said the price of
marine diesel had gone up by a third in the past
four months.
BBC NEWS
Riot police confront fishermen in Brussels
Police have clashed with hundreds of fishermen
protesting against the high cost of fuel outside
the headquarters of the European Union in
Brussels.
Several windows in EU buildings were broken and
at least one car was overturned during the
demonstration.
Riot police responded by firing water cannon and launching baton charges.
The fishermen have said they will go out of
business unless the EU allows national
governments to give them more financial aid and
subsidise their fuel.
French fishermen have been on strike for several
weeks over the price of diesel, which has risen
by 240% in the past five years.
In recent days they have been joined by members
of fleets from the UK, Spain, Portugal and Italy,
who have blockaded ports across Europe, and truck
drivers.
Restructuring
With foghorns, flags and flares, hundreds of
mainly French and Italian fishermen stopped
traffic on the main road in the European district
of the Belgian capital.
We came here... to tell Europe to stop getting in
the way of the French government trying to help us
Philippe Margoud
After several hours of stand-off, the protest
turned violent. A car was overturned, bins were
set on fire and windows were smashed by flares.
Riot police lined up behind a barbed-wire
barricade in front of the European Commission
responded by attempting to disperse the crowd
with water cannons and baton charges.
Earlier, a delegation of fishermen met senior EU
officials briefly outside the Commission's
headquarters to explain their grievances and
demand emergency aid from both the EU and their
countries' governments.
Philippe Margoud, a fisherman from the French
Mediterranean port of Agde, said the price of
marine diesel had gone up by a third in the past
four months.
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