French farmers to protest against EU-Mercosur deal

Paris (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – French farmers are preparing protests to resist the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, expressing that increased imports from South America will harm the EU’s agriculture.

The head of France’s largest farm lobby FNSEA has announced a new wave of rallies next week against the European Union’s planned free trade arrangement with the Mercosur trading bloc, stating an increase in agricultural imports from South America will impact their livelihoods. 

What concerns do French farmers have about South American imports?

FNSEA’s Arnaud Rousseau conveyed to France Inter radio: “This trade agreement, which links part of the South American states to Europe, attempts to have dramatic consequences for agriculture,”. “So we will be in all regions from Monday, for a few days, to make the voice of France heard at the time of the G20 in Brazil, and we hope that all the European countries will join us because the subject is not a country, a French subject, it is a European subject,” he said.

Do protesters plan to block roads?

Contrary to expectations, French farmers do not plan to block roads and highways as they had done last year when outrage at competition from cheaper imports, including from EU ally Ukraine, and a regulatory burden had led to large-scale demonstrations across the EU. “We are not here to bother the French people, we are here to tell them that we are proud to feed them and that continuing to produce in France,” he said.

How did France’s agriculture minister reacted to mercosur deal?

France’s agriculture minister, Annie Genevard, called the scheduled free trade deal between South American nations and the EU “a bad agreement,” as it would permit the entry into the country of “99,000 tons of beef, 180,000 tons of sugar and equal quantities of poultry meat” and would create adverse competition for local producers. Weather-hit crops and outbreaks of livestock conditions along with political deadlock after a snap election at the dawn of summer have added to the grievances among French farmers.