PARIS — French farmers are mobilizing for widespread protests on Monday targeting the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. Backed by their government, they argue the deal threatens their livelihoods by allowing a surge of South American agricultural imports produced under less stringent environmental standards.
Protests are planned nationwide, including gatherings at prefectures and traffic circles. So far, protests have been small. One group blocked a highway southwest of Paris on Sunday night with tractors. Witnesses at Velizy-Villacoublay said that some 20 tractors stationed by placard-holding farmers overnight on the N118 freeway artery toward Paris had left by late Monday morning.
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, particularly France.
“It is unacceptable as it stands,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
But France’s hands might be tied.
There are fears the agreement could be finalized at the G20 summit in Brazil this week, or in the coming weeks. A partial EU-Mercosur deal, with many of the parts that French farmers find unsavory, could be agreed over their heads since France does not hold veto power.
Other nations like Germany and Spain would like to see a far-reaching deal with their South American counterparts.
“There is a certain mythology surrounding Mercosur,” said Spanish Farm Minister Luis Planas Puchades, who argues there is more at stake than just farming.
“Is the European Union interested, at this moment, in closing in on itself?” he asked ahead of an EU farm ministerial meeting on Monday. “Or is it interested, in this particular geopolitical context that we are experiencing, and especially after the North American election, in expanding the network of our trade agreements with third countries to maintain our economic and commercial influence as well? I think the answer is very clear.”
Leading the charge of the new protests in France are unions, who oppose provisions such as duty-free imports of beef, poultry and sugar, which they say create unfair competition. Coordination Rurale, a union linked to the far right, has promised an “agricultural revolt,” including food freight blockades beginning Tuesday in Auch and Agen, in southwestern France.
Proponents of the agreement argue that it would significantly boost economic…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at ABC News: Business…