Farmers also demonstrate in Côte-d'Or

10 months after the major demonstrations and blockades of last winter, agricultural anger has reawakened again. Farmers are showing their opposition to the MERCOSUR free trade treaty which would allow the import of poorly controlled products from Latin America to Europe at very low prices, which would lead to unfair competition for breeders and farmers. French. The unions are also still demanding the realization of the promises made last winter by the government.

Punch actions and blockades are taking place in several regions of France, particularly in the Paris region, but the unions are not currently planning any road blockages in Côte-d'Or. Awareness-raising actions took place yesterday evening on the sides of the roads in Châtillonnais and near Arnay le Duc to make residents aware of agricultural issues, without blocking the traffic routes. In Dijon, farmers planned to light a fire this Monday evening on a plot located near the Olympic swimming pool and the ring road.

This Monday morning, the peasant confederation of Côte-d'Or sent a press release to further explain its opposition to MERCOSUR: “The EU-Mercosur agreement poses serious threats to French agriculture: increased imports of meat and honey, unfair competition on production conditions, downward pressure on the prices of agricultural products, worsening climate change … But this free trade agreement is not the only one at issue, it is all free trade agreements which must be called into question to respond to the causes of agricultural anger. Stopping the EU-Mercosur agreement should lead to other rapid victories against CETA, the EU-Morocco agreement, the EU-New Zealand agreement… Indeed, these liberalization agreements are structurally a source of volatility in prices and market deregulation and unfair competition to the detriment of workers' remuneration, human rights, people's food sovereignty, the environment and public health.

The peasant confederation also indicated that a meeting is planned this week with the new prefect of Côte d'Or.