French farmers on tractors protesting outside European Parliament
French farmers on 25 tractors organised a protest action near the European Parliament in Strasbourg, opposing the conclusion of a free trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), RIA Novosti reports
BFMTV TV channel reports that the European Parliament held a plenary session at which it was said, “At least 25 tractors arrived [on the territory] near the European Parliament in Strasbourg to condemn the free trade agreement with Mercosur.”
According to the TV channel, the farmers failed to drive directly to the European Parliament, because they were blocked by armed gendarmes and police vans. One of the protesting farmers and a member of the Coordination Rurale trade union (one of France’s leading farmers’ unions) said that the farmers were negotiating to be allowed to drive closer, as they had been promised earlier.
Tractor drivers periodically honk their horns, thus expressing their discontent with the trade agreement with Mercosur.
Earlier, French farmers stated that they would continue their protests against the inaction of the authorities and unfavourable EU trade agreements. Agrarians demand to reduce bureaucratic procedures, pay delayed EU subsidies, support young farmers, and reduce regulation of their work.
