French farmers block Paris streets in protest against MERCOSUR trade deal

PARIS – French farmers blockaded roads into Paris and landmarks like the Arc de Triomphe with tractors on Jan 8 in protest against a sweeping trade deal that the European Union is due to sign with South American nations.

Farmers from the right-wing Coordination Rurale union called for protests in Paris amid fears that the planned free trade agreement with the MERCOSUR bloc will flood the EU with cheap food imports.

They also protested against high costs and excessive local regulation, and demanded an end to a government policy of culling herds of cows in response to a highly contagious cattle disease, which they consider excessive.

“We are between resentment and despair. We have a feeling of abandonment, with MERCOSUR being an example,” Mr Stephane Pelletier, a senior member of the Coordination Rurale union, told Reuters beneath the Eiffel Tower.

The farmers overran police checkpoints to enter the city, driving along the Champs-Elysees avenue and blocking the road around the Arc de Triomphe monument before dawn on Jan 8, before gathering in front of the National Assembly.

National Assembly president Yael Braun-Pivet was booed and jostled when she stepped outside of the assembly’s gates to talk to the Coordination Rurale protesters.

Dozens of tractors obstructed highways leading into the capital ahead of the morning rush hour, including the A13 leading into Paris from the western suburbs and Normandy, causing 150km of traffic jams, the transport minister said.

Farmers from French farm union FNSEA and young farmers’ unions joined them later at the Eiffel Tower in a calm demonstration.

“We’re going to import products from the rest of the world that don’t meet our standards – that’s not possible, that’s unacceptable. So we’re staying mobilised, we’re carrying on,” Mr Arnaud Rousseau, president of FNSEA, told reporters, referring to the MERCOSUR deal.

The protest piles yet more pressure on President Emmanuel Macron and his government a day before EU member states are expected to vote on the trade accord.

Without a majority in Parliament, any policy misstep by Mr Macron risks a perilous vote of no confidence in the chamber.

France has long been a stiff opponent of the trade deal.

Even though Paris has won significant last-minute concessions, the trade deal is a political hot potato for the government, with municipal elections in March and the far-right polling strongly ahead of elections to replace Mr Macron in 2027.

“This treaty is still not acceptable,” government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon told France Info radio.

French Farm Minister Annie Genevard said on Jan 8 that even if EU members backed the accord, France would continue to fight against it in the European Parliament, whose approval will also be required for the agreement to enter into force.

This week, the European Commission proposed making €45 billion (S$67.5 billion) of EU funding available earlier to farmers in the bloc’s next seven-year budget and agreed to cut import duties on some fertilisers in a bid to win over countries wavering in their support of MERCOSUR.

The deal is backed by countries such as Germany and Spain, and the commission appeared closer to winning Italy’s backing.

Rome’s support for the deal would mean the EU had the votes needed to approve the trade accord with or without French support.

A vote on the deal is expected on Jan 9. REUTERS