French farmers block highway with tractors, decry EU trade deals and agri-bashing

Record ID: 1435661

  • Title: French farmers block highway with tractors, decry EU trade deals and agri-bashing
  • Date: 8th October 2019
  • Summary: LA VILLENEUVE-SAINT-MARTIN, FRANCE (OCTOBER 8, 2019) (REUTERS) TRACTORS ON NATIONAL HIGHWAY FLAG OF FNSEA FARMERS' UNION VARIOUS OF TRACTORS ON HIGHWAY TRACTORS DRIVING PAST POLICEMAN FARMERS WALKING BY TRACTORS FARMERS IN RAIN STANDING BETWEEN TRACTORS FARMERS GATHERED, LISTENING TO FELLOW FARMER SPEAK (SOUNDBITE) (French) PRESIDENT OF NATIONAL YOUTH FARMERS, SAMUEL VANDAELE, SAYING: "We're waiting for a strong message from the government and on my part, from the president (Emmanuel), about the image of farming. We're waiting for fair negotiations on non-treatable zones (for pesticides). We are also waiting for the Senate, which has not ratified the Canada-EU trade agreement (CETA). We are waiting for the Mercosur (deal) to be dealt with by the president. It's the president who must say stop. And the last message is for consumers. And this is why we've added a component to this mobilisation. It is important that the consumer takes action, meaning he must be coherent with what he wants and what he purchases. And this is very important." FARMERS APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (French) 37-YEAR-OLD FARMER FROM VAL D'OISE DEPARTMENT, GREGOIRE BOUILLANT, SAYING: "I can't, from one day to the next, change my production methods. I can't, from one day to the next, go from farming hectares. We have a rather long inertia. I have commitments to respect. In 2016, we did half a harvest. Today, my finances are quite tight. Faced with what's being imposed on us, I don't see how I can make a transition under strained economic conditions that disfavour us." FIRE BURNING FARMERS AROUND BURNING COALS VARIOUS OF FARMERS LISTENING VANDAELE LISTENING FARMERS APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (French) FDSEA IDF FARMERS UNION PRESIDENT, DAMIEN GREFFIN, SAYING: "Obviously, the triggering element of today's action is the non-treatable zones (for pesticides), where we are completely taken aback by the project of halting (treatment permits) by degree, which puts in the heads of our fellow citizens that in the final analysis, there is a difficulty, a danger in using phyto-sanitary products. What I want to bring to mind, and what we should be all reminded of is that finally, chemicals are a bit everywhere - in building materials, in cleaning products in our homes." TRACTORS VARIOUS OF FARMERS ON ROAD TRACTOR, AND OTHER VEHICLES IN HORIZON TRACTORS ON ONE SIDE, AND OTHER VEHICLES ON OTHER SIDE OF HIGHWAY TRACTORS ON HIGHWAY
  • Embargoed: 22nd October 2019 14:16
  • Keywords: farmers protest agriculture Elisabeth Borne MERCOSUR agri-bashing pesticides CETA
  • Location: LA VILLENEUVE-SAINT-MARTIN, BRUMATH AND PARIS, FRANCE
  • City: LA VILLENEUVE-SAINT-MARTIN, BRUMATH AND PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Environment,Climate Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B08LKQV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Farmers from around France blocked highways on Tuesday (October 8) with their tractors, denouncing "agri-bashing" and calling for just trade policies.
    The road blockade was the opening salvo of a series of demonstrations planned by two farmers unions to protest against the government's agricultural policy.
    Hundreds of tractors blocked one route of a national highway northwest of Paris, but traffic was smooth on the other side.
    French farmers' protests were riled after the country's parliament approved an EU-Canada trade deal in July, with recent demonstrations by farmers coming on top of the ongoing "yellow vest" protests against President Emmanuel Macron's policies.
    Protests by farmers in July and August resulted in many regional offices of Macron's centrist The Republic on the Move party being vandalised, including manure being dumped outside the office of member of parliament Monique Iborra and fellow MP Romain Grau's office being set on fire.
    French farmers are also angry over the potential hit to their livelihoods from a provisional trade deal struck in June by the EU and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries, which includes major agricultural exporters Brazil and Argentina.
    France's environment minister said on Tuesday (October 8) morning that France will not sign the EU-Mercosur deal under current conditions.
    "We can't sign a trade treaty with a country that doesn't respect the Amazon forest, that doesn't respect the Paris (climate) treaty," Transport and Environment Minister Elisabeth Borne told BFM TV.
    Macron said in late August that he had decided to block the EU-Mercosur deal, accusing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro of lying and playing down concerns about climate change, which also drew criticism from Germany and Britain.
    (Production: Thierry Chiarello, Vincent Kessler, Michaela Cabrera)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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