President Emmanuel Macron, who met on Wednesday 12 November with a delegation of farmers in Toulouse, “very clear” to inform them that the draft agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, “as it currently stands, it will receive a firm rejection from France”reports the Minister of Agriculture, Annie Genevard.
In the absence of a safeguard clause, “mirror measurement” or even “border control”, “France cannot at this stage validate the draft agreement with the Mercosur countries because this draft agreement does not protect the interests of our farmers”added the minister, to the press, at the end of the interview he also participated in.
A delegation that included all agricultural union organizations as well as Jérôme Bayle, local figure of the 2024 agricultural mobilization movement, was received by the president for an interview held in the building of the National School of Civil Aviation, not far from the National Center for Space Studies, where Emmanuel Macron was scheduled to present the national space strategy, in the afternoon.
Request for clarification
Some 250 farmers who came with around fifty agricultural machines gathered earlier in the day in Toulouse to ask Emmanuel Macron for clarification on the free trade agreement with Mercosur.
At the call of the FNSEA and Young Farmers in particular, demonstrators, mainly from Haute-Garonne and Tarn-et-Garonne, gathered peacefully in a district southwest of the city. “At Mercosur, we are waiting for a clear answer, yes, no, must clarify the position”said Jean-Marie Dirat, president of the Federation of Regional Farmers’ Unions (FRSEA).
According to Mr Dirat, the President is committed “right in the eye”two months ago during a visit to Aveyron, did everything to ensure that this agreement does not apply today, he lamented, “He told us he was quite positive (for ideas) to sign: in agriculture, when we high five, we only have one word, today how much is the president’s word worth? » “We want him to commit not to sign this agreement that is dangerous for French agriculture”emphasized agricultural representatives, emphasizing that, “In this matter, all trade unions agree and agree”.
“There is no doubt we accept this”
“This agreement does not benefit us, this community at all (farmer from Mercosur country) breeding animals with antibiotics and GMOs while we are prohibited from doing that here, this is a huge disaster for the livestock sector and I hope we can do it (…) change mind ” head of state, said Denis Carretier, president of the Occitanie Chamber of Agriculture.
“We had breeding that was in line with what people expected and we don’t blame ourselves, but shooting ourselves in the foot with Mercosur, there was no way we were going to take it”said Jean-Philippe Viguié, breeder and president of the agricultural chamber of Tarn-et-Garonne.
“If we don’t get clear answers from the Minister of Agriculture and the President, there will be fires in Occitania at the end of winter”moreover, it has warned the general secretary of the Young Farmers of Haute-Garonne, Jean-Baptiste Gibert.
