Dozens of tractors landed on the streets of Brussels on Thursday in a show of farmers' anger at the EU's planned trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur, whose fate hung in the balance as summit talks opened in the Belgian capital.
"We're here to say no to Mercosur," Belgian dairy farmer Maxime Mabille said.
"It's like Europe has become a dictatorship," he said, accusing European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen of seeking to "force the deal through."
Farm lobby Copa-Cogeca said 10,000 protesters were expected to demonstrate in the capital's European quarter, where the Mercosur deal loomed large over an EU summit focused on funding Ukraine's war effort.
More than 150 tractors clogged the streets of central Brussels on Thursday morning, with many more expected.
Farmers, particularly in France, worry the Mercosur deal will see them undercut by a flow of cheaper goods from agricultural giant Brazil and its neighbors.
Plans by the commission chief to fly to Brazil this weekend to sign the agreement were thrown in jeopardy on Wednesday after Italy joined fellow heavyweight France in seeking a delay.
Arriving for Thursday's summit talks, von der Leyen said she still hoped for an accord.
"It is of enormous importance that we get the green light for Mercosur and that we can complete the signatures," said the EU chief, who held what she called a "good and productive" meeting with a European farmers' delegation to hear their concerns.
The EU-Mercosur pact would create the world's biggest free-trade area and help the EU to export more vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America at a time of global trade tensions.
But farmers say it would also facilitate the entry into Europe of beef, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans produced by their less-regulated South American counterparts.
Paris and Rome have been calling for more robust safeguard clauses, tighter import controls and more stringent standards for Mercosur producers.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned on arrival in Brussels that France would not support the 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 stands, Macron told reporters.
He vowed France would oppose any "attempt to force this through."
Key power Germany, as well as Spain and the Nordic countries, strongly support the Mercosur pact, eager to boost exports as Europe grapples with Chinese competition and a tariff-happy administration in the White House.
"If the European Union wants to remain credible in global trade policy, then decisions must be made now," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters in Brussels Thursday.
But with Paris, Italy, Hungary and Poland in opposition, the deal's critics would now have enough clout within the European Council to shoot down the deal, were it to be put to a vote.
The last-mile upset in European ranks drew a stern rebuke Wednesday from Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who told his EU partners the time to close the deal was now or never.
European farmers are also incensed at plans put forward by the European Commission to overhaul the 27-nation bloc's huge farming subsidies, fearing less money will flow their way.
"Our message is pretty simple: we've been protesting since 2024 in France, in Belgium and elsewhere," said Florian Poncelet of the Belgian farm union FJA.
"We'd like to be finally listened to," he said.
