The president of the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA), Arnaud Rousseau, announced new actions on Wednesday, November 20 on Franceinfo “Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday” next, “With Young Farmers [JA] “, who will go to the administrations to denounce “impediments” to agriculture. The majority alliance FNSEA-JA has already organized actions this week, Monday and Tuesday, “in 85” departments, according to him.
Next week, “in every department”these unions “They will focus on the limitations or obstacles that they consider important. They can be representatives of the State, agencies, they can be links with administrations”explained M. Rousseau. “The objective is, once again, to press to denounce today what is not acceptable. And, I repeat, always with respect for property and people.”he added.
The protesters will defend, in particular, the return of acetamiprid, an insecticide from the neonicotinoid family whose use is demanded by producers of hazelnuts and sugar beets. Harmful to pollinators, it is prohibited in France but is used in other European Union countries.
“I repeat that ecology is a concern of farmers, but (…) Putting ourselves in dead ends, stopping production in France and importing it from other places, that does not advance France.”considered Mr. Rousseau.
What is the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur? Understand in three minutes
Less than a year after massive mobilizations, many French farmers are once again expressing their firm opposition to the signing of a free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, a trade alliance between Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia.
The objective of this treaty, under discussion for more than twenty years, is to facilitate trade between these countries and Europe by almost completely eliminating customs duties. Except these products are not subject to the same standards as in the EU.
For farmers, this would mean the arrival of unfair competition on the European market. For this reason, and also for ecological reasons, several European countries – including France – oppose signing this agreement as it is.
In this video we return to the reasons that push French farmers to reject the EU-Mercosur agreement. And to know more, we invite you to read the decryption below.
“Understand in three minutes”
The explanatory videos that make up the “Understanding in three minutes” series are produced by the Vertical Videos department of the World. Mainly spread on platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook, their goal is to contextualize big events in a short format and make the news accessible to everyone.
