Following border blockages, hundreds of French farmers defied restrictions to enter Paris with tractors protesting the EU-Mercosur deal. President Macron confirmed France's opposition, citing risks to food sovereignty, as the EU nears a vote.
Building on earlier highway blockages by French and Belgian farmers, protests intensified on Thursday, January 8, 2026. Hundreds led by Rural Coordination bypassed security and stormed central Paris with tractors, blocking key sites, while countryside roads were halted.
This came hours after President Emmanuel Macron announced on X that France will vote against the EU-Mercosur trade deal, negotiated under a 1999 mandate. He called it outdated, offering negligible GDP gains (0.05% by 2040) outweighed by threats from South American imports with weaker standards.
Macron noted recent concessions: an 'emergency brake' for 5% price/volume shifts, 'mirror measures' on pesticides/antibiotics, and 45 billion euros for the Common Agricultural Policy from 2028 to 2034.
A rancher told reporters: 'We won't even think about our young people settling on farms because it won't be viable anymore.' The FNSEA union plans a major Strasbourg protest on January 20. Ireland also opposes the deal, despite expectations of an EU qualified majority vote on Friday for Ursula von der Leyen's signature.