Ten months after the demonstrations at the start of the year, fire is smoldering again in the agricultural world. The prospect of a free trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries (Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia) crystallizes anger. But farmers, who intend to put pressure on the government to respect the commitments made during the agricultural crisis, also intend to demonstrate for more decent incomes.
The president of the National Federation of Farmers' Unions (FNSEA), Arnaud Rousseau, launched a call on Wednesday, November 13 for a national mobilization of farmers “from Monday”at the moment of the G20 in Brazil, where the agreement with Mercosur will be discussed. Lhe Rural Coordination intends to mobilize from November 19, the date of its national congress. For the Peasant Confederation, the mobilizations began on Tuesday. Franceinfo takes stock of Act II of the agricultural crisis.
Fear of an agreement with Mercosur
By the admission of all the unions, the free trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries brings together all the tensions. Discussions, stuck since 2019, have resumed for several months. The head of the FNSEA, the majority union among farmers, cited as “a scarlet line” the possible adoption of this controversial trade agreement. “We will be on the roundabouts and boulevards of Europe to denounce this European incoherence triggered by the Mercosur announcement”promised on RTL Pierrick Horel, president of the Young Farmers union, allied with the FNSEA.
Same line on the Rural Coordination side. “Mercosur is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. We don’t want it to be signed, and we want Mr. Macron to take a clear position on this subject,” explains to franceinfo Patrick Legras, the spokesperson for this union known for its muscular actions.
This agreement, which plans to increase trade between the two common markets by removing numerous taxes, should facilitate access to the European market for Mercosur countries. In particular, it should allow South American countries to export to Europe some 99,000 tonnes of beef benefiting from customs duties of 7.5%. If France is opposed to this agreement, this is not the case for all European countries, which worries the unions. The Peasant Confederation, which began to mobilize on Tuesday, will be in Paris and Brussels on Wednesday to protest against the agreement.
Income, always a priority subject
As with the agreement with Mercosur, the unions are unanimous about the urgency of acting on farmers' income. The FNSEA, Rural Coordination and the Peasant Confederation, which have already carried out local actions in October, intend to put pressure on the government. During the agricultural crisis, Gabriel Attal made around sixty commitments. Certain measures are currently being discussed in Parliament as part of the 2025 finance bill (PLF) and the Social Security budget.
If Emmanuel Macron had announced the establishment of floor prices in each sector during the Agricultural Show, the Peasant Confederation judges that “the root causes of the crisis have not been addressed. After these announcements, nothing happened structurally, and it even got worse for farmers with Lactalis which broke contracts“, deplores to franceinfo its spokesperson, Laurence Marandola. “Declarations, intentions, that no longer bites. We want concrete things”Arnaud Rousseau, the boss of the powerful FNSEA, recently declared on France Bleu Roussillon, while the agricultural orientation bill was suspended due to the dissolution.
A succession of crises
The year 2024 was marked by a series of health crises and climatic hazards. In recent months, farms have been affected by several epizootics: avian flu, whose risk level was recently raised from “moderate” to “high”, epizootic hemorrhagic disease in cattle and bluetongue, which decimated many herds. “We have no solution for managing health risks”deplores Laurence Marandola, while the government announced, at the beginning of October, guaranteed loans and 75 million euros for sheep breeders affected by bluetongue.
Wine growers and grain growers suffered a year of poor harvests due to particularly rainy conditions in spring and summer. “With the bad year [climatique] and health problems, between 40 and 45% of farmers are in difficulty”, believes Patrick Legras, from Rural Coordination. His union has already warned: its mobilization “will be more important” that at the beginning of the year, where its members notably carried out a punchy action near the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris.
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