"The European Commission has bent over backwards to craft safeguard clauses and emergency brakes in case of a sudden surge in food imports. It has brought forward planned future agricultural spending to assuage farming countries such as France, Poland, Ireland and Italy. Farmers fear that cheap South American beef, not produced to strict EU standards, will flood their markets. It's mostly down to the collective cowardice of France's political leaders, starting with the president, Emmanuel Macron."
"The tragedy is that while the EU can finally claim an important victory in its strategy of sealing rules-based free-trade pacts with key regions and countries worldwide to counter aggressive US trade protectionism, in so doing it is helping the Eurosceptic far right to electoral victory in France."
"He and French politicians across the spectrum would rather pander to the farm lobby, which represents less than 4% of GDP and 2.5% of the workforce, than tell voters the truth that the crisis of cattle rearers has nothing to do with Mercosur, and that other sectors, including wine and cheese makers as well as other industries, stand to profit from the deal."
France's farmers are blocking motorways with tractors to protest an impending EU-Mercosur trade agreement that has been 25 years in the making. The EU regards the deal as a strategic victory to secure rules-based free-trade pacts and counter US protectionism. The protests risk boosting the Eurosceptic far right by eroding rural support for European integration and potentially costing long-term stability if France withdraws backing. The European Commission has proposed safeguard clauses, emergency brakes and accelerated agricultural spending to protect farmers. French political leaders have largely avoided directly addressing the structural causes of the cattle sector crisis.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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