Farmers blocked Paris with tractors near the Arc de Triomphe: protesting against the EU-Mercosur trade agreement
Kyiv • UNN
French farmers have blocked roads to Paris and landmarks, protesting against the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. They demand an end to government policies destroying cattle herds.
French farmers on Thursday blocked roads to Paris and landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe with tractors to protest a major trade deal that the European Union is set to sign with South American countries, Reuters reports, writes UNN.
Details
As stated, farmers from the right-wing union Coordination Rurale called for protests in Paris over fears that the bloc's planned free trade agreement with Mercosur would flood the EU with cheap food imports.
They also protested against high costs and excessive local regulation and demanded an end to the government's policy of culling cow herds in response to a highly contagious cattle disease, which they consider excessive.
"We are between outrage and despair. We have a feeling of abandonment, and Mercosur is an example of that," Stéphane Pelletier, a senior member of the Coordination Rurale union, told Reuters near the Eiffel Tower.
Farmers broke through police checkpoints to enter the city, driving down the Champs-Élysées and blocking the road around the Arc de Triomphe before dawn, before gathering in front of the French National Assembly.
National Assembly Speaker Yaël Braun-Pivet was booed and pushed as she emerged from the building's gates to speak with Coordination Rurale protesters.
Dozens of tractors blocked highways leading to the French capital before the morning rush hour, including the A13, which leads to Paris from the western suburbs and Normandy, causing 150-kilometer traffic jams, the country's transport minister said.
Farmers from FNSEA and young farmers' unions joined them later near the Eiffel Tower in a peaceful demonstration.
"We are going to import products from the rest of the world that do not meet our standards – this is impossible, this is unacceptable. So we remain mobilized, we continue," Arnaud Rousseau, president of the FNSEA agricultural union, told reporters, referring to the Mercosur agreement.
The protest increases pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron and his government a day before EU member states are expected to vote on the trade agreement. Without a majority in parliament, any political misstep by Macron risks a dangerous vote of no confidence in the chamber, the publication writes.
France has long been a fierce opponent of the trade agreement.
Despite Paris securing significant last-minute concessions, the trade agreement is a political "hot potato" for the government, as municipal elections are due in March, and the far-right has strong chances ahead of elections that will have to replace Macron in 2027, the publication indicates.
"This treaty is still unacceptable," government spokeswoman Maud Brejon told France Info radio.
French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said on Wednesday that even if EU members support the agreement, France will continue to fight against it in the European Parliament, whose approval will also be necessary for the agreement to enter into force.
This week, the European Commission proposed allocating farmers 45 billion euros in EU funding in the bloc's next seven-year budget and agreed to cut import duties on some fertilizers in an attempt to win over countries hesitant in their support for Mercosur.
The agreement is supported by countries such as Germany and Spain, and the European Commission seemed closer to gaining Italy's support. Rome's support for the agreement would mean that the EU would have the votes needed to approve the trade agreement even without France's support, the publication indicates.
A vote on the agreement is expected on Friday.