Some 350 tractors were rolled by French farmers on Tuesday over cobblestoned Paris avenues toward Parliament to protest low incomes and an EU trade deal with South America that they fear threatens their livelihoods.
Farmers in France, the European Union's largest agricultural producer, and other member states have been protesting for months over the EU-Mercosur deal and numerous local grievances.
Escorted by police, the tractors tangled rush-hour traffic on Tuesday as they rumbled down the Champs-Elysees and other Paris avenues, and then over the Seine River to reach the National Assembly.
The demonstration was organized by the FNSEA, one of France's largest farm unions. A separate farmers' union, the Coordination Rurale, had already brought tractors below the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe last Thursday in a surprise demonstration.
Farmer anger in France and other European countries has escalated over a rash of challenges. The unions leading Tuesday’s protests said they are demanding ″concrete and immediate action″ to defend France’s food security.
French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said on TF1 television on Tuesday that the government would make new announcements soon to help farmers.
President Emmanuel Macron and his government oppose the EU-Mercosur trade deal, but it is expected to be signed in Paraguay on Saturday anyway, because it has the support of most other EU countries.
European farmers have long denounced the trade deal with the Mercosur nations of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, arguing that it would flood the market with cheaper imports.
"The Mercosur agreement was approved even though the European Parliament hasn't had its say. This is going to lead to imports of foreign goods that we are perfectly able to produce in France and that don't respect standards which are imposed on French farming," said Damien Greffin, vice president of the FNSEA and a farmer from the Paris region.
Greffin said that besides the protest in front of the French parliament, they were also planning to demonstrate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Jan. 20.
"Farming is going through a crisis like we've never seen and we need to make ourselves heard," said Guilllaume Lefort, a crop farmer from Seine et Marne in the Paris region, holding an FNSEA flag in front of the National Assembly.
