European farmers have threatened to blockade supermarket deliveries and leave shelves bare as part of their biggest tractor protests against the EU yet.
They are furious after Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, announced a free trade agreement with the Mercosur trading bloc of South American countries.
The deal, which farmers fear will leave the EU swamped with cheap beef and poultry, requires the sign-off of bitterly divided European governments which could veto it.
Negotiations had dragged on for 25 years before Mrs von der Leyen swooped to sign the deal when France, the most influential member state opposing the deal, was engulfed in a domestic political crisis.
Yet it remains a huge risk for the EU chief, who has staked her credibility on the controversial agreement in the first days of her second five-year term, which began on Dec 1.
Belgian and French farmers block the border between Hensies and Crespin – FRANCOIS LO PRESTI/AFP via GETTY IMAGES
In June, tractors rolled into Brussels as part of Europe-wide protests against EU net zero rules in June.
Fearful of the looming European Parliament elections, Mrs von der Leyen caved in to farmers’ demands and shelved or watered down the new green rules for agriculture.
Bart Dickens, president of the Farmers Defence Force Belgium, told The Telegraph that the protests against the deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay would dwarf those dramatic demonstrations.
He said: “Ursula von der Leyen is killing us. I think it’s going to be much bigger.”
Bart Dickens, president of the Farmers Defence Force Belgium – KRISTOF VAN ACCOM/BELGA NEWS AGENCY/ALAMY
Militant farmers’ groups across Europe are already holding talks on Zoom and in person over how to force Brussels to its knees with a string of actions in the new year, he said.
Mr Dickens added: “We can stop the food supply, the distribution to supermarkets.
“I hope we can do that across European countries. It’s an example. If you kill the farmers, the supermarket shelves will be empty and you won’t have what you want any more.”
Serge Bousquet-Chassagne, the local head of the militant Coordination Rurale union in the south-western Lot-et-Garonne region of France, said French farmers were prepared to descend on Brussels at any moment.
He told The Telegraph: “Our farmer colleagues who are the nearest to Belgium went to Brussels around two weeks ago and naturally we are ready to go back in even greater numbers if the Mercosur agreement is really signed.”
Farmers groups from eastern Europe, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain could join the French and Belgians.
After the deal was announced, the Elysée said it was “unacceptable” and Mrs von der Leyen was not among the leaders welcomed by Emmanuel Macron at the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral the following weekend.
Mr Bousquet-Chassagne said Mr Macron was playing “a double game as usual”.
The European Commission has agreed a zero tariff rate for 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry, which is the equivalent of 4 million head of cattle and 600 million birds.
This risks displacing 18 per cent of EU beef output, according to some estimates, in high value cuts such as steak and, it is feared, drive prices down.
Brazil is already the EU’s biggest agri-food trading partner with imports of £14.2billion last year. Another £3.8billion worth of food was imported from Argentina, with beef and veal imports rising by 30.5 per cent in 2022.
As she announced the deal, Mrs von der Leyen, who is German, said that she had heard farmers’ concerns and that the agreement had safeguards to protect them from being undercut.
The deal will have to be ratified by EU leaders and the European Parliament. It needs a qualified majority which represents 65 per cent of the population of the EU with no less than 15 countries in agreement.
In September, 11 member states publicly called for the deal to be done. They were Germany, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic.
Germany is the most powerful EU member state backing the deal, which it sees as a potential boon for its car industry, which is in need of new markets.
Spain, which has close ties to South America, has also welcomed the agreement and claims the deal has safeguards to protect farmers from being undercut on food standards.
But Spain’s main farming unions have come out against the free trade deal with Mercosur, and protests have been called starting next Monday.
Farmers watch a blockade being built with 578 bales of straw in Auch, south-west France – LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via GETTY IMAGES
The deal could be vetoed by a blocking minority of France, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Austria.
Coalition negotiations for the next Irish government are continuing after November’s Irish election but Poland has said it will oppose the deal.
A spokesman for the Austrian farmers’ union said: “We remain true to our position and reject this agreement as it is hostile towards our farmers. This agreement is opposed not only in Austria but also in France, Ireland and Poland.”
But the Italian government has kept its cards close to its chest, while the Dutch coalition government has not yet reached a common position on the deal.
Massimiliano Giansanti, president of Confagricoltura, Italy’s oldest association of agricultural enterprises, said, “On Mercasour, we are for a clear No.
“European farmers will probably be forced to lower their prices to be able to compete with South American products. We have already lost, in the last few years, around 20 per cent of our farmers, and we risk losing more.”
Europe’s powerful farming lobbies have swung into action to rally opposition to the deal.
The Irish Farmers Association, fearful of the impact on Irish beef and poultry, has already sent representatives to Brussels, where they have met with other farmers’ groups.
Lennart Nilsson is the president of Copa-Cogeca, the European farmers’ organisation in Brussels.
He said farmers were already under pressure from the cost of living crisis and had been squeezed after the EU removed tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural exports after Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion.
Mrs von der Leyen is expected to tell EU leaders that the election of Donald Trump, as next US president, is a reason to agree to the deal.
Mr Trump is seen by Brussels as a threat to international trade rules, which EU-Mercosur would bolster, because of his vow to hit the EU with tariffs.
Mr Nilsson said: “We can understand the geopolitical reasons for this, we could even agree with them, but why is it always in these geopolitical discussions that farmers need to pay?
“When I listen to my members it is quite possible that farmers will be out on the streets again.”
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Publish date : 2024-12-14 09:28:00
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