Farmers block highway near French-Spanish border in protest against EU-Mercosur deal

Farmers have staged protests throughout the week across France, saying the EU-Mercosur trade deal threatens their livelihoods.

Transcript

00:00French farmers protested for a third day on Wednesday, after setting up a blockade on

00:06the highway near the French-Spanish border. Their aim is to block heavy goods vehicle

00:12traffic from Spain to France, protesting against an EU-Mercosur trade deal with South American

00:17nations.

00:19The French Minister for Agriculture condemned the blockade, saying it risked undermining

00:24public empathy for the profession.

00:26To protest against Mercosur, to express your concerns, to demand a certain number of advances

00:34in different areas is legitimate. Without taking the goods, without taking the people,

00:39to permanently blockade the country, that is not acceptable.

00:43The farmers say producers from countries that are part of the Mercosur agreement are not

00:47subject to regulations as strict as those in Europe. They also say it creates unfair

00:53competition with third countries.