PARIS (Reuters) – Convoys of farmers set out on Sunday to try to block roads around Paris to protest what they say are unfair competition from abroad and excessive regulation.
Farmers from France, the largest agricultural producer in the European Union, led protests across Europe in early 2024, but the protests faded as the year progressed.
However, a move last month by the EU and South American countries in the Mercosur bloc to announce an agreement in principle on a free trade deal has given French farmers who oppose the Mercosur deal a new boost.
French farmers are also unhappy with the regulation, which they say is eroding their profits. Farm union officials are due to meet French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on January 13 to express their concerns.
“They don’t understand the level of misery and distress that farmers are going through right now,” Amelie Rebiere, vice-president of the farmers’ union Coordination Rurale, told BFM TV.
Backers of the EU’s Mercosur deal, such as Germany, say it offers a way to reduce dependence on trade with China and insulate EU countries from the impact of trade tariffs threatened by US President-elect Donald Trump.
Despite this, many European farmers – often led by those from France – have repeatedly protested against the EU-Mercosur deal, arguing that it would lead to cheap imports of South American goods, particularly beef, which does not meet EU safety standards.
