Thousands of farmers have taken to the streets of Brussels to protest European Union plans for a trade agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc and the reform of agricultural subsidies. Meanwhile, with France and Italy urging caution and other EU member states pushing for speed, Europe is still divided over the deal.
Hundreds of tractors began rolling into the European quarter of the EU capital on Thursday morning, ahead of a high-stakes summit among European Union leaders.
Convoys of farmers had arrived overnight, coming primarily from the Netherlands – scene of strong mobilisation among farmers in recent years – but also from Belgium and northern France.
French and Belgian farmers also began demonstrating on Wednesday around Bierset airport, near Liège, Belgium – a symbolic gathering place, as the airport is a logistics hub and could be the gateway for South American agricultural imports in the future.
Farmers, particularly in France, worry that the Mercosur deal – which will be discussed at the EU leaders meeting – will see them undercut by a flow of cheaper goods from agricultural giant Brazil and its neighbours.
They also oppose plans put forward by the European Commission to overhaul the EU's farming subsidies.
'Unprecedented anger'
France's President Emmanuel Macron warned on Thursday that Paris would not support the Mercosur deal without stronger safeguards for its farmers.
"I want to tell our farmers, who have been making France's position clear all along: we consider that we are not there yet, and the deal cannot be signed [as it currently stands]', he told reporters, vowing that France would oppose any "attempt to force this through".
According to government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot Bregeon, Paris still lacks “sufficient visibility on the three conditions requested” by France – namely “mirror measures, the safeguard clause and controls”.
Those concerns centre on ensuring EU farmers are protected from imports produced under looser environmental and health standards, which have been a long-standing fault line in negotiations over the deal.
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Belgium's Walloon Agricultural Federation (FWA) said that Brussels' plans to slash the subsidies scheme by 20 percent while pushing ahead with the Mercosur deal were "totally unacceptable".
The FWA will be among more than 40 national farming groups represented at Thursday’s demonstration. Pan-European agriculture lobby group Copa-Cogeca said it expected 10,000 people to show up.
French agricultural union Confederation Paysanne told French news agency AFP that "anger in rural areas is reaching unprecedented levels”.
Europe divided
The European Union has been negotiating the trade pact with Mercosur for more than two decades.
But European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen’s hopes of signing the treaty at the Mercosur summit in the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu on Saturday hinge on securing the backing of a qualified majority of EU member states in Brussels.
The agreement, reached in principle a year ago, would create the world’s largest free trade area, linking the EU with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Bolivia is also part of the Mercosur bloc.
Under the deal, the EU would gain greater access to Latin American markets for vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits, while South American exporters would find it easier to sell beef, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans to Europe.
Supporters of the agreement argue it has taken on renewed strategic importance as global trade patterns shift.
Germany, Spain and the Nordic countries have urged the EU to sign swiftly, saying the deal could help offset exports hit by United States tariffs and reduce Europe’s dependence on China by improving access to key minerals.
However, Italy – whose position is seen as decisive – has now publicly aligned itself with France in disputing the terms of the deal.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday it was “still premature” to sign the agreement “in the coming days” before an additional package of protective measures for farmers is fully finalised with the European Commission, adding that the agreement needed adequate reciprocity guarantees for the agricultural sector.
“The Italian government has always been clear in saying that the agreement must be beneficial for all sectors and that it is therefore necessary to address, in particular, the concerns of our farmers,” Meloni told the Italian parliament.
'We are preparing to win a war'
For French farmers like Bertrand Chauffier, who grows sugar beets among other crops, Mercosur directly threatens the sugar industry in France.
"We said it loud and clear 18 months ago when we went out on the highways. We didn't want products that weren't produced the same way as ours. The price of sugar will be wiped out. It's unfair competition."
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To illustrate his point, he has attached a large wooden coffin to the front of his tractor, symbolising the impending demise of his business.
"We put it on hinges so it's clearly visible that it's empty," he explained to RFI. "Empty like the shopping carts of consumers if French agriculture disappears."
He says the protesters will stay mobilised as long as necessary.
"We are preparing to win a war. A war is fought with well-fed men, tables, camp beds and water so that we can withstand a siege if our policies do not give us conclusive results."
(with newswires)
