The Mercosur Agreement, which has been under discussion for decades but was signed at the end of 2024, would allow the EU to export more cars, machinery and even wine to Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. However, this will also facilitate the entry of beef, poultry, sugar or honey through reduced import duties.
Around a hundred farmers demonstrated on Wednesday evening at the Tancarville bridge toll gate, in Normandy, on the south bank of the River Seine, against a proposed trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Mercosur countries, AFP noted. “The aim of this action is to reaffirm our rejection of the Mercosur agreement,” said Justin Lemaître, a rancher near Le Havre and secretary of the Seine-Maritime Young Farmers.
This agreement, which has been discussed for decades but was signed at the end of 2024, will allow the EU to export more cars, machinery, wine, etc. to Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. However, this will also facilitate the entry of beef, poultry, sugar, honey, etc. through reduced import duties.
Mounted by around fifteen tractors, the protesters did not block traffic, but instead neutralized several lanes in the middle of the toll barrier. They wanted to “symbolically” block river traffic at the mouth of the Seine by using cans hanging from bridges and on them the words “No to Mercosur”. “It’s like a Christmas wreath,” stressed Guillaume Burel, a 45-year-old farmer and vice president of the FNSEA in Seine-Maritime.
“We are afraid of what happens next, we are afraid of the future,” said Eliott Paris, 17, a student at Yvetot agricultural high school and wanting to settle in Seine-Maritime. Mercosur, “We’ve been talking about this for a year, and this year we were made the butt of jokes,” he complained. Hélène Saint-Aubin, 28, an agricultural worker on a farm in Lanquetot, also in Seine-Maritime, expressed “general disgust with Mercosur”, which is synonymous with “unfair competition” for French farmers.
“We will face competition with factory farms in South American countries” without “the same rules,” in terms of traceability, medicinal products, etc., added Mr. Burel. Several farmer demonstrations have taken place in recent weeks in France, such as in Rouen on November 12 and Monday in Cher and Loir-et-Cher.
