Watch: Farmers protest with tractors as EU agriculture ministers meet to discuss crisis

Watch as Belgian farmers protest with tractors in Brussels during a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers on Tuesday 26 March.

Ministers are hoping to calm anger sparked in multiple EU countries about environmental standards seen as too strict and foreign imports.

Tractors blocked several access roads around the European institutions on Tuesday morning and no traffic is moving along Rue de la Loi, one of the busiest thoroughfares in Brussels, according to reports.

Farmers across the continent have been protesting for months over EU red tape and competition from cheap imports from countries where the union’s relatively high standards do not have to be met.

On Monday evening, farmers converged on Westminster for a tractor protest against “substandard imports and dishonest labelling” they warn are threatening food security at home.

Protesters raised concerns over the increasing difficulties faced by the British farming industry, which they say are risking the nation’s food security.