BRUSSELS: The police used water cannons and pepper spray to keep protesters angry over plans stringent economic measures outside the site of Thursday's EU summit. At least three policemen were wounded.
Thousands of workers were marching against an economic reform package unions say is too pro-business, singing, whistling and blocking main roads in central Brussels. Traffic jams cause of protest in the Belgian capital, home to the EU institutions.
Eurozone leaders undertake to impose annual reference on economic competitiveness, boost jobs and make their budgets sustainable in the long term. The unions demand the pact an unprecedented attack on the state of well-being of Europe, aimed at workers in austerity measures, while undermining the social gains expensive.
Due to fear of violence, helicopters flew over the summit site, hundreds of police patrolled the capital, and heavy equipment, including water cannons, was parked near the headquarters of the EU . Protesters armed with sticks and other demonstrators throwing stones faced cordons of police, but could not penetrate.
On a ring road near to the summit site which includes several steps, the police used three water cannons and pepper spray to keep thousands of protesters from approaching the summit site. Three policemen injured were seen taken away by an AP video journalist.
Activists hung billboards near the EU headquarters, reading: "Competitiveness Covenant. NO austerity of the Covenant. NO Solidarity: YES!
Address the cause of the event, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said growth would lead only to renewed prosperity for all, which requires painful measures.
"We all had to make some hard and unpopular, and not for pleasure. Ensuring financial stability is important for the people themselves," he said.
The unions argued that they were the first victims of these changes.
"Workers in Europe want to keep their social models, and do not accept that they will pay for the crisis," said John Monks, leader of the ETUC European Trade Union Federation.
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