French farmers plan new wave of protests in November triggered by anger over EU trade deal

French farmers are planning fresh nationwide protests this November over concerns about the EU-Mercosur trade deal. 

Two of France’s main farming unions have announced a new wave of protests next month against a trade deal that is being negotiated between the EU and South American countries in the Mercosur bloc. 

The finalisation of the deal is expected before the end of the year, potentially on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November. 

The FNSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs unions are planning nationwide protests from mid-November. 

“We call on our network to restart protests from 15 November 2024,” presidents of the two unions, Arnaud Rousseau and Pierrick Horrel told the French newspaper Ouest-France. This is three days before the start of the G20 summit in Brazil. 

The exact nature of these protests has not yet been confirmed but Rousseau also told journalists at a news conference on Tuesday that they could reach Brussels. 

FNSEA says the Mercosur trade deal is the latest trigger in its growing frustration with the “incoherency” of EU policies. French farmers worry that a deal with the Mercosur bloc will mean an influx of cheap beef and other agricultural products which they say don't have to comply with strict EU regulations.

“The agreement would open the door to 99,000 tonnes of beef, 180,000 tonnes of poultry, the equivalent of 3.4 million tonnes of corn and 180,000 tonnes of sugar,” FNSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs warned in a joint press release. 

A compensation fund has reportedly been proposed by the European Commission to appease farmers’ concerns, according to an article published by Politico on 16 October. FNSEA says this is a “provocation for European farmers” that “would consist of selling