Farmer protests in France have led President Macron to oppose continued negotiations on a prospective free trade agreement between the EU and Latin America. Shifting his position on the EU-Mercosur (the South American trade bloc commonly known by the Spanish abbreviation Mercosur) trade deal, the president “very firmly reiterated to the Commission the fact it was impossible to conclude talks in these conditions,” an Macron adviser told the media on Monday.
The presidential adviser told reporters that the EU understood it was impossible to reach a trade deal and that EU talks with Mercosur countries had been stopped. “It is our understanding it has instructed its negotiators to put an end to the negotiation session underway in Brazil and in particular cancel the visit of the Commission’s vice-president that had been envisaged in view of a conclusion.”
However, a European Commission spokesman said on Tuesday that
The discussions are continuing and the European Union continues to fulfill its objective of achieving an agreement that respects our sustainability goals and respects our sensitivities, particularly in agriculture.
Reports from the Élysée Palace anticipate Macron raising his newfound objections to the Mercosur deal with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a special EU Council summit later this week. Politico reports that EU officials were taken aback by the snap decision of the French government.
The Mercosur agreement—a key part of the EU free trade policy—envisions dropping tariffs between European and South American producers, leading farming groups to fear that the EU would be overwhelmed by cheap—and substandard—imports from countries unfettered by EU’s green deal regulations as the Continent itself clamps down on food production.
Dormant since 2020 due to opposition from the Irish, Austrian, and Wallonian parliaments, the Mercosur agreement was a major topic for discussion during the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit in Brussels last July as European nations look to secure the flow of raw materials from Latin America amid worsening relations with China.
Objections from France could spell the end for the agreement, which has been lambasted both by farming lobbies and environmentalists as inflicting an unsustainable form of free trade on the agricultural sector.
Paris is still in a state of partial lockdown Tuesday, as tens of thousands of tractors blockade key transport junctions in an attempt to break the government’s resolve. Demonstrators oppose tough new green regulations that would further devastate their industry.
Hay bales and tractors lined the primary motorways heading into Paris this morning as authorities made a special effort to secure the vital supply hub of Rungis with armoured vehicles—which farmers’ groups could successfully blockade—amid reports that farmers were preparing for a protracted standoff with the central government.
Grassroots farming representatives have indicated that they expect to stay at their barricades until at least Thursday, with the government so far conceding to token demands on diesel subsidies.Taxi drivers also joined in demonstrations with a “drive slow” protest around Paris Monday afternoon.
The direct action taken by French farmers was triggered by the effects of the Ukrainian war on food prices as well as destructive green legislation—created to follow EU’s directives—which curtails the ability of farmers to operate. Farming groups are inspiring others with a decisive defence of their way of life.
The protests have grown in strength the past week, with the populist Rassemblement National party citing the demonstrations as evidence of support for the party’s protectionist policies. The government fears a repeat of the Gilets Jaunes protest movement of 2018 and has set out to smear the protestors as ‘far right’.
The months leading up to this year’s European elections have seen the EU leadership increasingly concerned by waves of farmer protests. Representatives for farming groups in Brussels last week called for a pan-European movement to increase pressure on politicians with a view to ending the most menacing aspects of the EU’s green transition.
