The French farmers have blocked the streets of Paris early this morning to protest a major trade agreement with MERCOSUR and other local issues, Reuters reports
Farmers from several unions organised the demonstrations amid concerns that the planned free trade deal with the MERCOSUR bloc would flood the EU with cheap food imports, as well as dissatisfaction with the government’s measures to combat cattle disease.
“We are between resentment and despair. We have a feeling of abandonment, with MERCOSUR being an example,” Stephane Pelletier, a senior member of the Co-ordination Rurale Union, noted.
The farmers broke through police checkpoints to enter the city, drove along the Champs-Élysées, and blocked the road around the Arc de Triomphe, where police then surrounded them.
“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 150 km of traffic jams,” France’s Transport Minister reported.
This week, the European Commission proposed allocating 45bn Euros from EU funds to support farmers as part of the bloc’s next seven-year budget and agreed to reduce import tariffs on certain fertilisers to persuade countries that have yet to back the MERCOSUR deal.
