Sawt Falasteen - French farmers step up protests against EU-Mercosur deal

The French government is leading resistance against ratification of the trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay that would create the world's largest free-trade zone.

But protesters say French President Emmanuel Macron and the government should do more to help.

The new wave of action comes after farmers across Europe, including France, mounted rolling protests last winter over a long list of burdens they say are squeezing revenue.

On Tuesday morning, more than a hundred farmers set off from the southern town of Beziers towards the French-Spanish border near Perpignan, where they intend to block traffic for several days.

Travelling along the A9 motorway, around a hundred vehicles, including six tractors, passed through Narbonne, where they were joined by a dozen cars, an AFP correspondent saw.

In the southwest, around 30 tractors converged on the Bordeaux regional authority's headquarters, according to an AFP photographer.

The FNSEA farming union and Jeunes Agriculteurs ("Young Farmers"), which together represent most farmers in France, backed the protests.

Hardline farmers' union Coordination Rurale threatened to step up pressure later this week and start blocking food freight, if no progress is made.

On Monday, farmers staged more than 80 protests across the country, setting up mock gallows and wooden crosses to symbolise the death of French agriculture.

They also blocked the Bridge of Europe, which links France and Germany to protest against the European Commission's plan to conclude the Mercosur treaty following two decades of talks.

In Bordeaux, on the banks of the Garonne, several dozen farmers burned uprooted vines on Monday evening.

"It's a warning. We're rekindling the flame today, so be careful," 60-year-old winegrower Jerome Freville told AFP.

French farmers complain about excessive bureaucracy, low incomes and poor harvests.

They say they have been waiting for the authorities to deliver on the promises of support made by the government before Macron dissolved parliament's lower house in the summer, sparking a political crisis.

The proposed Mercosur pact has provoked fresh anger.

Farmers fear any agreement would open European Union markets to cheaper meat and produce from South American competitors, who are not forced to adhere to strict EU rules on pesticides, hormones, land use and environmental measures.

Macron said on Monday that France was not alone in opposing the accord.

"Contrary to what many people think, France is not isolated and several countries are joining us," Macron said in Brazil, where he was attending a G20 summit.

He said the agreement had been in the works for several decades and was "based on preconditions that are now obsolete".

L.AbuTayeh--SF-PST