French government calls farmers' protest ‘illegal’ as tractors blockade Paris landmarks

French farmers blockaded sites in Paris on Thursday in protest against a sweeping trade deal the European Union is poised to sign with South American nations and other local grievances.

The farmers overran police checkpoints to enter the city, driving along the Champs-Élysées avenue and blocking the road around the Arc de Triomphe monument before dawn, before gathering in front of the National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament.

National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet was booed and jostled when she stepped outside of the assembly's gates to talk with protesters.

The rightwing Coordination Rurale union had called for protests in the capital amid anger against a free trade agreement between the European Union and South American bloc Mercosur, which they fear may flood the country with cheap food imports, and the way the government is handling a cattle disease.

"We are between resentment and despair. We have a feeling of abandonment, like with Mercosur. We have been abandoned in favour of a space shuttle, an Airbus, or a car," Stéphane Pelletier, the deputy president of the union in Vienne, in central France, told Reuters.

The action drew a swift from rebuke from the government, which warned it would "not stand by" and allow "illegal" actions.

Blocking a motorway or "attempting to gather in front of the National Assembly with all the symbolism that this entails is once again illegal", government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon told France Info Radio.

The protest comes days after the European Commission proposed making 45 billion euros of EU funding available earlier to farmers and agreed to cut import duties on some fertilizers in a bid to win over countries wavering in their support of Mercosur.

Italy poised to back deal

The EU-Mercosur deal would create the world's biggest free-trade area and help the 27-nation bloc to export more vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America.

But farmers fear being undercut by a flow of cheaper goods from agricultural giant Brazil and its neighbours.

The deal is backed by countries such as Germany and Spain and the Commission appeared to have won Italy's backing, meaning it would have the votes needed to approve the trade accord with or without French support. A vote on the deal is expected on Friday.

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 Macron in 2027.

"This treaty is still not acceptable," Bregeon, the government spokesperson, told France Info radio.

Read moreEU poised to secure Italy's backing for contentious Mercosur deal

Farmers are also demanding an end to cow culling prompted by a series of highly contagious lumpy skin disease, which they consider excessive and advocate for vaccination instead.

In another protest near the southwestern city of Bordeaux, about 40 farm vehicles blocked access to a fuel depot, according to the local authorities.

During earlier protests, farmer blocked roads, sprayed manure and dumped garbage in front of government offices to force the authorities to review their policy.

Belgian farmers have also staged mass protests against the trade deal, rolling some 1,000 tractors into Brussels in December.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)