{"id":322097,"date":"2026-01-14T14:29:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T06:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=322097"},"modified":"2026-01-14T14:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T06:29:14","slug":"france-furious-farmers-roll-hundreds-of-tractors-into-paris-in-fresh-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=322097","title":{"rendered":"France: Furious farmers roll hundreds of tractors into Paris in fresh protests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"This
Tractors parked in central Paris to demand “concrete and immediate action” from the government, which is struggling to deal with the anger of farmers in Paris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

PARIS, Jan 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More 350 tractors parked near the French parliament building on Tuesday after driving down the Champs-Elysees avenue, as farmers protested a litany of woes including the EU-Mercosur trade deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protests reflect a deep sense of malaise afflicting France’s agricultural sector, with the planned signing of an accord between the European Union and the Mercosur bloc seen as the last straw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French farmers have complained about economic uncertainties and environmental rules, and have since December staged protests and set up roadblocks over the government’s handling of a lumpy skin disease outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arriving from towns around Paris and beyond, the protesters parked their tractors not far from the National Assembly in central Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’re at the end of our tether,” said one of the activists, Guillaume Moret, 56.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We haven’t made any money from our farms for three years,” said the head of the FNSEA union for the Paris region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The peasant revolt continues,” read a banner unfurled in front of the legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FNSEA, France’s leading agricultural union, and another union, Jeunes Agriculteurs, are demanding “concrete and immediate action” from the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard, who came out to meet the farmers, said Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu would make a new announcement later Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protesters also spoke with Yael Braun-Pivet, head of parliament’s lower house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government last week already announced a planned 300-million-euro package to support the farmers, as well as other measures including an increase in the number of wolves that can be killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a move highlighting the atmosphere, France’s biggest agricultural show will this year feature no cows, for the first time since the event’s creation in 1964.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmers, driven by health concerns and a sense of solidarity with breeders affected by the lumpy skin disease outbreak, have refused to present their cattle at the fair in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event’s chairman, Jerome Despey, called the move a “blow to the show.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first convoy of about 15 tractors rolled into the French capital shortly before 6am. Joined by dozens of others, they drove down the Champs-Elysees honking their horns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We won’t leave without measures that allow us to catch our breath a little,” said protester Guillaume Moret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several days before the scheduled signing of the EU-Mercosur agreement in Paraguay on Saturday, the FNSEA union reiterated its opposition to the deal and also listed several national “priorities” to be defended on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union is calling on the government to address a number of issues including wolf predation and the use of fertilisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police said some 400 protesters had gathered near the parliament building. The FNSEA union put turnout at over 500 tractors and 800 farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the European Union’s 27 nations back the Mercosur trade deal, which supporters argue is crucial to boost exports, help the continent’s ailing economy and foster diplomatic ties at a time of global uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal, more than 25 years in the making, would create one of the world’s largest free-trade areas, boosting commerce between the EU and the Mercosur bloc comprising Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would see the European Union export machinery, chemicals and pharmaceuticals with lowered tariffs applied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But farmers in France and several other countries fear being undercut by an influx of cheap beef and other agricultural products from South America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of farmers in France and Ireland staged protests over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In France, politicians across the divide have also been up in arms against the deal, which they view as an assault on the country’s influential farming sector. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARIS, Jan 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More 350 tractors parked near the French parliament building on Tuesday after driving down the Champs-Elysees avenue, as farmers protested a litany of woes including the EU-Mercosur trade deal. The protests reflect a deep sense of malaise afflicting France’s agricultural sector, with the planned signing of an accord between the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[208,209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322097"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=322097"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322098,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322097\/revisions\/322098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=322097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=322097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=322097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}