About 30,000 people marched through Brussels on Friday demanding an end to job cuts, as new figures showed that European Union unemployment had reached a 10-year high. The peaceful protest was organised by Belgium's three largest trade unions. Workers convened outside the EU's headquarters and then marched into the city centre, severely disrupting traffic.

No incidents were reported, police said. Workers from Opel's car factory in Antwerp - faced with closure in the summer as part of General Motors' European offshoot restructuring plan - were among the protestors. They were joined by demonstrators from global firms whose Belgian operations are facing possible severe job cuts, such as Arcelor-Mittal, HP and InBev, the Belga news agency reported.

Unemployment and the economic crisis are set to be one of the major subjects of discussion at the informal summit of EU leaders planned in Brussels on February 11. The meeting is to be chaired by the new EU president, Herman Van Rompuy, who until November was Belgium's prime minister.

Copyright Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 2010