French farmers protest EU-Mercosur deal that will increase South American imports

PARIS -- French farmers protested Tuesday against a trade deal that would increase agricultural imports from South America, saying it hurt their livelihoods.

The European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc, composed of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, reached an initial agreement in 2019, but negotiations stumbled due to opposition from farmers, and some European governments, leading to sweeping rallies where they particularly expressed worry about the use of pesticides in South American produce.

Tuesday's protest in Aurillac, in southern France, was the start of a fresh wave expected to spread among the European agricultural community amid concern that the deal could be finalized at the G20 summit in Brazil on Nov. 18-19 despite the French minister of agriculture, Annie Genevard, saying it was “highly unlikely."

A group of more than 600 French lawmakers also published an open letter in Le Monde, telling the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the conditions for adopting an agreement with the Mercosur bloc “have not been met."

Last week, French protesters blocked the state building in the western commune of Niort, while on Monday, the Copa-Cogeca European farmers’ group sent a letter to von der Leyen, urging her to reject the Mercosur deal and adopt “a coherent trade policy”

Meanwhile, France's three biggest farming unions have vowed action: The FNSEA, France’s largest, has called for nationwide protests once the winter sowing season ends in mid-November. Coordination Rurale has promised “an agricultural revolt” starting on Nov. 19 in Auch and Agen, two cities in the Southwest of France, while the Confédération Paysanne, the third-largest union, known for its anti-globalization stance, is also planning its move against “free trade agreements.”

Farmers in Belgium have also called for demonstrations close to the EU headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.

European farmers' apprehensions stem from what they say are the too-strict EU environmental regulations they follow while the Mercosur deal could flood the market with imports from South America which are produced under lower environmental and labor standards, according to Véronique Le Floc’h, the president of Coordination Rurale, France’s second-largest farmers’ union.

“The anger hasn’t gone away. It’s still there, and, in fact, our worries have grown,” said Le Floc'h whose organization has been linked to France's far-right party National Rally. “If the Mercosur agreement is signed, it will spell the end of our agriculture,” she said.

Genevard, the agriculture minister, reiterated the government’s opposition to the deal on Tuesday. In an interview with TF1, she said: “We don’t want this agreement because it’s harmful. It will bring in products, including substances banned in Europe, at the cost of deforestation. It will unfairly compete with our domestic production.”

But Le Floc’h was not convinced.

“When the minister says the agreement won’t be signed, she’s either naive or thinks we are,” she said. “Why should we believe her when so many countries are in favor of it?”

In March, French President Emmanuel Macron called the deal “terrible” and “outdated." Negotiations began on June 28, 1999, but have taken a long, torturous path since.

Macron opposes any agreement as long as South American producers fail to adhere to the same environmental and health standards as Europeans.