France: Farmers block Strasbourg's Europe Bridge to protest EU milk crisis

Hundreds of farmers used tractors to block the Strasbourg entrance of the Europe Bridge, which connects the French city to the German town of Kehl, for several hours on Friday in a protest against European Union (EU) milk quotas. The demonstration is part of a Europe wide movement organised by the European Milk Board (EMB) to highlight the dairy price crisis in the EU. During the tractor blockade, farmers bathed in paddling pools filled with milk, holding up cows painted in German and French flag colours, bearing the message “Fair milk." Similar slogans lined placards upon the farmers’ tractors, one such sign reading "France-Germany same struggle, save the milk." The EMB has called on EU Ministers of Agriculture to discuss their Market Responsibility Programme (MRP) at an upcoming meeting, which outlines plans to curb the milk crisis through cost-covering as dairy prices fall below farmer’s production costs. The EMB has stated that the current milk crisis is not a short-term situation and will only be exacerbated with time without EU agro-reforms. Falling prices for agricultural produce have been partially attributed to recent changes in the market caused by EU sanctions placed on Russia, to which in turn Russia banned EU imports.