Like everywhere in France, farmers in Loiret will once again organize an operation to attract attention. The negotiations on Mercosur, linking South American states to the European Union, are worrying.
Monday, November 18, from 3 p.m., farmers from Loiret will organize a filter dam on the Pont de l'Europe, in Orléans. It should last until late at night. At the call of the FNSEA and the Young Farmers (JA), they will mobilize in order to draw the attention of the public authorities to subjects which have been “agitating” the plain for several months.
Farmers in Loiret covered signs to attract the attention of public authorities
“There are negotiations between the European Union and Mercosur at the moment. However, they have not been concluded. There is a distortion of competition in relation to the standards and the famous mirror clauses have still not been introduced. There are therefore inconsistencies and we have difficulty finding our way,” underlines Jean-Louis Lefaucheux, secretary general of the FNSEA du Loiret. “And this is not an anti-European speech. On the contrary. Europe has made it possible to guarantee social peace and food peace.”
“We have been promised aid for six months”: farmers express their discontent in Orléans
Compared to standards, Jean-Louis Lefaucheux points out the intrinsic quality of imported products is not called into question:
“It's the process that poses a problem. In particular the environmental impact. Let's not import the culture that we don't want. We say it again too. We are not opposed to the ecological transition.”
Arnaud Rousseau on deck?
The general secretary of the FNSEA of Loiret knows well that the social climate is anxiety-provoking, that the barometer is not looking good: “I'm not saying that it's simple, but our political class should set a course for us , that our young people know where they are going, including at the hydrological level, and of the Loire, to find a balance between urban and rural areas on the use of water.
And the sun in all this?
“We're all waiting for it. Casually, the year 2024 was trying meteorologically. And it still is. Like the end of 2023, we can't sow as we want”
Furthermore, Arnaud Rousseau, the national president of the FNSEA will be Monday, November 18, in Blancafort (Cher), while the Doux group announced the closure of a poultry slaughterhouse. It is not excluded that he will make the trip to the Bridge of Europe. Jean-Louis Lefaucheux will send him a text message to this effect.
About Mercosur. Mercosur, or “Southern Common Market” (Mercado comun del sur), is a free trade treaty between the European Union and brings together five nations: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and, since 2023, Bolivia.
The European Union wishes to intensify its trade in this area with the objective of a common area of more than 700 million consumers.
Alexis Marie
