What if farmers returned to the streets? A year after their significant mobilization, disagreements persist. The Young Farmers and the FDSEA of Côtes-d'Armor are particularly opposed to the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, the Southern Common Market which brings together Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia, which could be concluded at the G20 in Rio on November 18 and 19, before being ratified by Brussels. In a press release addressed to the press, the trade union organizations called for “an immediate end to these discussions” and announced that they had launched a “Stop Mercosur” petition.
Standards “much less strict than ours”
“By allowing the massive entry of foreign agricultural products – 99,000 tonnes of beef, 180,000 tonnes of poultry meat, 3.4 million tonnes of corn and other products – the Mercosur agreement would open our market to subject production. to environmental and health standards that are much less strict than ours: use of growth-promoting antibiotics, lack of traceability, phytosanitary substances banned in Europe, lack of social rights and deforestation,” they warn.
“The European Commission, which recently advocated a “strategic dialogue” on the future of agriculture, ignores the opposition of European farmers and civil society. Worse, it is considering the creation of a compensation fund for farmers affected by the agreement, which is nothing less than a provocation! Our farms must not be sacrificed for short-sighted trade deals. We, Young Farmers and FDSEA of Côtes-d'Armor, categorically refuse to see our farms, our sustainable agriculture and our food sovereignty sold off. »
