Tractors in the Champs Elysées and the Eiffel Tower. Farmers from confederate France entered Paris on Thursday morning with agricultural equipment, protesting against the planned EU trade agreement with Mercosur, reports AFP.
A column of machines passed, among others, through the Elysée Fields, and any vehicles parked in the Eiffel Tower area. The action was organised by the trade union agrarian Coordination (CR) which opposes both the agreement with the countries of South America and the government's December decisions to fight lumpy skin disease.
Trade unionists are determined to present their demands to politicians despite the hazard of police intervention – and this is very possible due to the ban issued by the Paris Prefecture on tractors entering key areas of the capital.
The EU-Mercosur Agreement is intended to facilitate the export of agricultural products from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in exchange for greater marketplace access for the Union industry. Although the EC sees it as a chance to diversify trade, the agreement is blocked, among others, by France and Poland and besides by Italy.
