Anti-austerity march on European Council

Brussels is preparing for a “high-tension” summit, writes Le Soir. In the run-up to the European Council meeting of 24 and 25 March, several Belgian trade unions as well as the European Trade-Union Confederation, have organised a day of action against austerity measures on Thursday, that will include a march "on the European quarter" where the Council meeting is to be held. It was "to be expected," notes the Brussels daily, "that they [the unions] would protest against tentative plans to rethink social entitlements, notably the automatic increasing of salaries in line with inflation, which is considered sacrosanct in Belgium." Le Soir announces that the streets of "the city will be completely blocked," and warns of the possibility of "violent incidents involving factions in left-wing unions, which union leaders are no longer able to control.”