French farmers rolled into Paris in force on Tuesday, surrounding the National Assembly with hundreds of tractors in a dramatic protest against the European Union’s long-delayed Mercosur trade deal with South America — a pact many warn could devastate Europe’s already struggling agricultural sector.
An estimated 350 tractors clogged streets around France’s parliament as farmers demanded “concrete action” from their government to stop the agreement with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The deal is expected to be signed Saturday in Asunción by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, despite fierce opposition in France.
Negotiated for more than 20 years, the Mercosur agreement has managed to unite France’s fractured political landscape in rare consensus — almost everyone hates it. From the left to the populist right, critics argue the deal will sacrifice French farmers on the altar of globalist free trade.
Opponents warn that the agreement would flood Europe with cheap meat and agricultural products from South American countries where labor, land, and regulatory costs are far lower. French and Italian farmers, already squeezed by taxes and regulations, fear they simply won’t be able to compete.
Despite Paris’s objections, France failed last week to rally enough EU member states to block the deal from advancing.
Speaking to Le Figaro outside the National Assembly, Thomas, a 25-year-old farmer, said he joined the blockade to “denounce the distortions of competition in Europe.”
Another farmer, Hector, was blunt about the reality on the ground.
“It’s difficult to make a decent living as a farmer these days, especially in free markets,” he said. “Rather than handing out checks — which are often futile and useless — we need to review the taxation of agricultural businesses.”
Their anger isn’t new. Farmers across Europe have been battered by Brussels-driven regulations, environmental mandates, and green agenda policies that critics say make farming economically unsustainable. Similar tractor protests have erupted in recent years in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and beyond.
The numbers tell a grim story. France’s agricultural trade surplus has collapsed from €10.5 billion in 2015 to €4.5 billion in 2024 — and then fell off a cliff, dropping to just €125 million by October. For many farmers, Mercosur feels like the final blow.
Several high-profile politicians showed up in solidarity. Sébastien Chenu, vice president of the National Assembly and MP for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, told protesters his party is “quite aligned with your demands.”
Marion Maréchal, a rising figure on the French right, went further, urging President Emmanuel Macron to withhold France’s annual contribution to the EU budget to force Brussels to abandon the deal.
Still, farmers remain skeptical that Paris will fight hard enough.
Arnaud Rousseau, president of the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions, said the battle is shifting beyond France.
“We’re going to Strasbourg on the 20th,” Rousseau said. “We understand that Mercosur will no longer be decided in France but within the European institutions.”
Once again, Europe’s farmers are sending a message Brussels can’t ignore: you can’t preach sovereignty, sustainability, and food security — then sell out the people who actually feed the continent.
