French farmers drove around 350 tractors through the avenues of Paris towards Parliament on Tuesday (13) to protest low wages and a European Union trade agreement with South America which they say threatens their livelihoods.
The outrage of farmers in France and other European nations has grown in the face of a series of recent difficulties. The unions responsible for the protest said they were demanding “concrete and immediate measures” to guarantee the protection of French food security.
According to farmers, the profitability of the activity has been compromised by the increase in the prices of fuel, fertilizers and animal feed, in addition to what they consider to be more severe environmental requirements and the pressure exerted by large retail chains and food industry industries on the amounts paid to producers.
As is the case in other European Union countries, French farmers have been criticizing the trade agreement being negotiated between the EU and Mercosur, a bloc formed by Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, for years.
In the sector’s assessment, the treaty would open space for the entry of cheaper South American agricultural products, such as beef, chicken and sugar, produced under different rules than European ones, which would harm local producers and put even more pressure on prices on the domestic market.
