Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Farmers riding in tractors blocked roads and set off fireworks brussels out on wednesday European Union Police responded with tear gas and water cannons during the leaders’ summit as protesters rallied against a major free trade deal with South American countries.
Farmers fear agreement with trade group MERCOSUR Their livelihoods will be diminished, and there are widespread political concerns that it is increasing support for the far right.
The farmers brought sausages and beer for nourishment as well as potatoes and eggs to throw away and clashed with the police.
“We are fighting against Mercosur to protect our jobs in all European countries,” Armand Chevron, a 23-year-old French farmer, told The Associated Press.
He said farmers are against carbon taxes, reducing agricultural subsidies and competition created by the agreement.
Police in riot gear set up barriers just outside the European Parliament as protesters burned tires and a fake wooden coffin emblazoned with the word “agriculture.” Their fire gave rise to a black cloud swirling with white tear gas.
“We will not die in silence,” one sign said. “Dictatorship starts from here,” said another.
Hundreds of farmers like 60-year-old Pierre Vroman came on tractors, which they parked to block roads around key EU institutions.
The Mercosur deal would be “bad for farmers, bad for consumers, bad for citizens and bad for Europe,” said Vroman, who raises cattle and grain in the nearby Belgian town of Waterloo. Other farmers came from as far away as Spain and Poland.
Clashes between farmers and police took place a short distance from the Europa Building, where leaders of the 27 EU countries discussed a trade deal as well as a proposal to freeze Russian assets for use in Ukraine.
Objections regarding the deal are increasing
on wednesday, Italy Joined the French-led opposition to the signing of the massive transatlantic free trade agreement between the EU and the five active Mercosur countries – Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia – and signaled that it objected. The deal would gradually eliminate tariffs on almost all goods traded between the two blocs over the next 15 years.
president of france Emmanuel Macron Coming up for Thursday’s EU summit he opposed the Mercosur agreement and pushed for more concessions and more discussions in January. He said he was discussing a delay with Italian, Polish, Belgian, Austrian and Irish colleagues, among others.
“Farmers are already facing a huge number of challenges, as farmer protests are affecting areas around France. We cannot sacrifice them on this agreement,” he said.
Concerned about a growing far-right supporting rallies criticizing the deal, Macron’s government has sought safeguards to monitor and prevent major economic disruption in the EU, including increased regulations such as pesticide bans in Mercosur countries and greater inspection of imports at EU ports.
Premier Giorgia Meloni told the Italian parliament on Wednesday that signing the agreement in the coming days “would be premature.”
“This does not mean that Italy intends to block or oppose (the deal), but rather that it intends to ratify the agreement only if it includes adequate reciprocal guarantees for our agricultural sector,” Meloni said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is committed to signing the deal, but she needs the support of at least two-thirds of EU countries.
Italy’s opposition would give France enough votes to veto von der Leyen’s signature.
In Greece, farmers have been blocking highways across the country for weeks to protest delays in agricultural subsidy payments as well as high production costs and low product prices that they say have strangled their sector and made it impossible to make ends meet.
The protests have sometimes turned violent, with farmers clashing with riot police. Last week, dozens of angry farmers stormed the aircraft parking area of the international airport on the southern Greek island of Crete, forcing the airport to suspend all flights and close for several hours.
This deal may adversely affect China and America
This agreement has been under negotiation for 25 years. Once ratified, it will cover a market of 780 million people and a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product. Supporters say it would provide a clear alternative to Beijing’s export-controls and Washington’s tariff blitzkrieg, while opponents say it would undermine both environmental rules and the EU’s coveted agricultural sector.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said ahead of the Brussels summit that delaying or canceling the agreement would affect the EU’s global position.
“If the EU wants to remain credible in global trade policy, decisions must be made now,” Merz said.
Agathe Demaris, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the deal is also about the strategic competition between the West and China over Latin America. “Failure to sign an EU-Mercosur free trade agreement risks pushing Latin American economies closer to Beijing’s orbit,” he said.
Von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa are due to sign the agreement in Brazil on Saturday.
South America’s movement on delay
The political tensions that have marked Mercosur in recent years – particularly between Argentina’s far-right President Javier Meili and Brazil’s centre-left Lula da Silva, the bloc’s two main partners – have not changed South American leaders’ desire for an alliance with Europe that would result in benefits for their agricultural sector.
Lula has been one of the most enthusiastic promoters of the agreement with South America’s largest economy. As host of the upcoming summit, Brazil’s president is betting on Saturday to seal the deal and score a major diplomatic achievement ahead of next year’s general elections, in which he will seek re-election.
At Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, Lula was clearly unhappy with the stance of Italy and France. He said Saturday would be a “make or break” moment for the deal.
Lula said, “If we don’t do this now, Brazil will not make any more agreements while I am president.” He said the agreement would “protect multilateralism” as Trump is pursuing unilateralism.
Trump’s close ideological ally Miley also supports this agreement.
He said some time ago, “We must stop thinking of Mercosur as a shield that protects us from the world and start thinking of it as a spear that allows us to effectively enter global markets.”
,
Associated Press writers Deborah Ray in Buenos Aires, Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Alain Bekatoros in Athens and Sylvain Plazzi and Angela Charlton in Brussels contributed to this report.