The demonstrators held the rally after marching through the city, demanding an end to government austerity policies and calling for reforms to encourage investment.
Maurizio Landini, the general secretary of the Italian metalworkers' union, FIOM, said EU leaders are responsible for the high unemployment, as their policies applied in recent years “have caused 25 million unemployed people in Europe.”
Landini added that in order to change the situation in Europe, Brussels should amend “those policies, to overcome austerity, the fiscal compact, and budget balancing, to restart investments and to build a real European welfare.”
The protest was staged outside the venue of the EU meeting this past week, during which European leaders discussed measures to increase economic growth and create more jobs in a bid to tackle the region’s high unemployment rate.
Italy and France seek a slower pace in spending cuts and favor an increase in EU investment to help growth, while Germany backs austerity.
