French farmers drove their tractors into Paris early Thursday to protest, among other issues, the imminent signing of a trade agreement between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc, according to local media reports.
Bertrand Venteau, president of the Coordination Rurale, France’s second-largest agricultural union, said around 100 tractors entered the French capital before dawn. The Interior Ministry, however, stated that most of the tractors were blocked at the city’s entrances, adding that shortly before 8:00 a.m. local time, about 20 tractors were circulating within central Paris.
“We want to be received today by the president of the National Assembly and the president of the Senate,” Venteau said, as his union called for a demonstration in front of the French National Assembly later in the morning. The protest is part of a broader mobilization by the agricultural sector that has been ongoing for several weeks.
French farmers are grappling with multiple crises, including an outbreak of contagious nodular dermatitis among cattle, low wheat prices, high fertilizer costs, and fears of increased competition if the EU finalizes the long-negotiated free trade agreement with Mercosur countries — Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Farmers argue that the deal would expose them to unfair competition from agricultural imports produced under less stringent standards.
According to media reports, around 20 farmers gathered near the Eiffel Tower, with about ten tractors parked nearby. The convoys reportedly arrived between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m., having bypassed and forced police checkpoints set up in both the inner and outer suburban rings around Paris, the Interior Ministry said.
