Thousands of French farmers paralyzed Paris on Thursday, turning the City of Light into a standstill protest zone against the EU’s looming Mercosur trade deal. Tractors rolled down Champs-Élysées, blockaded the Arc de Triomphe, and even approached the Eiffel Tower, as demonstrators bypassed police barriers in a bold show of defiance.
Organized by the right-leaning Rural Coordination Union, the action highlights fears that the agreement will unleash a deluge of inexpensive South American agricultural products, eroding French market prices and farm incomes. Compounding grievances is the Macron administration’s criticized response to animal health crises, leaving rural communities seething.
From Vienne in central France, union deputy Stéphane Pelletier voiced the collective frustration: ‘Anger and despair define us now. We’re as isolated as Mercosur, sacrificed for priorities like space programs, Airbus, and automobiles.’ His words echo a broader sense of betrayal among those who feed the nation.
France’s government pushed back hard. Spokesperson Maud Bregeon labeled motorway blockades and protests near the National Assembly as unlawful during a France Info interview. The timing is pointed: days after the EU Commission floated €45 billion in accelerated farm aid and tariff cuts on select fertilizers to nudge Mercosur skeptics.
If ratified, EU-Mercosur would forge the globe’s biggest free-trade area, opening Latin American markets to European autos, equipment, wines, and liquors. But French farmers see red over the reverse flow—Brazil-led Mercosur’s cheap meats, crops, and dairy poised to flood shelves and squeeze profits.
Mercosur, the bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, represents a formidable trade rival. With Paris under siege, this uprising underscores rural Europe’s resistance to globalization’s sharper edges, where local traditions clash with multinational deals. Farmers aren’t backing down, pledging more disruptions until their voices are heard in Brussels and beyond.