French farmers take to the streets in protest at Mercosur trade negotiations

Farmers protested across France Monday against the prospect of an agreement between the European Union (EU) and South America’s Mercosur bloc that will intensify the competition in the French agricultural sector.

The EU, along with four Mercosur countries - Argentina Brazil Paraguay Uruguay - is pushing for the conclusion of long-running commercial negotiations before the end the year.

The protests on Monday were the largest since French farmers staged weeks-long demonstrations in January last year over lower imports, burdensome regulation and low incomes.

On Monday, the protests were mostly calm. However, tractors briefly closed a part of the highway near Paris early in morning while others dumped manure outside government buildings.

Armelle Fraiture, a dairy farmer in the north of Paris, said: "We still have the same requests as we did in January. Nothing has changed." We must convince the government that enough is enough.

The French farmer has had to deal with a rain-damaged harvest, outbreaks of livestock diseases and a delayed parliamentary election which delayed the measures promised to calm previous protests.

A Mercosur agreement would be a "cherry" on top of the cake, Arnaudrousseau, president of France's largest farmers' union, FNSEA, said to BFM TV.

He said that tens of thousands farms in France, which is the EU's largest agricultural producer, are in financial difficulty.

French farmers are worried that a Mercosur agreement will lead to more beef, maize, sugar, and chicken coming from Brazil and Argentina. These countries, they claim, use pesticides and antibiotics for growth in livestock and crops. Both of these things are illegal in Europe.

Protests

FNSEA has announced that the FNSEA will be running a series of events through December.

Pierrick Horel, the leader of Young Farmers' group told RMC radio that there was a lot anger in the air. "Even though we do not approve of the destruction, there is a point when it happens, and sometimes, very strongly.

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his opposition against a proposed deal with Mercosur.

The authorities will struggle to appease the farmers if they lack EU allies during the Mercosur negotiations and if rural grievances are deep.

Farmers in Europe expressed similar frustration last winter, following the surge of imports from Ukraine after Russia's invasion 2022.

(source: Reuters)