Hundreds of farmers rally in Paris against EU-Mercosur trade deal

Hundreds of farmers gathered outside France's National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, in Paris on 8 January to protest the European Union's trade agreement with the South American bloc Mercosur and to demand stronger protection for French agriculture. The demonstration comes ahead of an important European vote on the deal.

Around 100 tractors entered the capital before dawn despite a police ban. Some reached the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, and farmers then assembled outside parliament with flags and banners warning of mounting pressure on their livelihoods.

What the farmers object to

The protest was organised by Coordination Rurale, a farmers' organisation whose members travelled from several French regions. They also criticised the government's handling of an outbreak of lumpy skin disease in cattle.

The agreement would expand trade with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. French farmers fear competition from cheaper beef, poultry and sugar produced under different environmental and animal-welfare standards. Brussels says European food-safety rules would still apply and that sensitive agricultural imports would be subject to quotas.

Tensions rose outside parliament when demonstrators booed National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet. President Emmanuel Macron, for his part, said France would oppose the agreement.

Protests across the country

According to the Interior Ministry, actions took place in 39 departments, involving about 2,200 farmers and 625 tractors. Coordination Rurale called for the demonstrations to end later the same day, but insisted that the fight was far from over.