European Farmers Block Roads to Oppose Mercosur Deal Threatening Local Agriculture
Tractors block Brussels as trade pact faces collapse.
Thousands of European farmers converged on Brussels in a dramatic display of dissent, maneuvering hundreds of tractors to blockade major roads surrounding the EU summit venue, while deploying fireworks and burning tires, escalating tensions that compelled police forces to intervene with tear gas and water cannons to restore order near the European Parliament and the Europa Building.
The protests targeted the long-negotiated free-trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur bloc—comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia—amid fears that the deal's progressive elimination of tariffs on agricultural products would flood European markets with cheaper imports, severely undermining local farmers' competitiveness and livelihoods.
Inside the summit, EU leaders grappled with mounting internal divisions as Italy formally aligned with France in voicing substantial reservations, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni addressing Parliament to declare that proceeding with ratification in the immediate future would be premature absent robust reciprocal safeguards for the continent's vital agricultural sector.
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The proposed accord, the culmination of 25 years of intricate negotiations, promises to create one of the world's largest free-trade zones encompassing 780 million consumers and representing approximately a quarter of global gross domestic product, positioned by proponents as a strategic bulwark against escalating protectionism from the United States and economic dominance by China in Latin America.
Despite European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's resolute push to finalize and sign the agreement during a scheduled ceremony in Brazil on Saturday, alongside European Council President António Costa, South American counterparts—including Brazil's President Lula da Silva, who views it as a pivotal diplomatic triumph ahead of his reelection bid, and Uruguay's officials expressing guarded optimism—conveyed growing impatience with European delays, warning that prolonged hesitation risks fracturing multilateral trade efforts in an increasingly unilateral global landscape.
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