Mercosur, France bans the import of fruit and vegetables contaminated with pesticides banned in Europe
The decision is pending a ruling by the European Commission and is part of the open discussion on 'reciprocity' in the EU-Mercosur agreement. Five active ingredients are targeted: four fungicides and one herbicide.
Neither the announcement by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen of an immediate mobilisation of 45 billion euros to support the sector, nor the four-page 'open letter' to farmers by French Prime Minister Lecornu was enough to calm down: today Paris woke up with tractors at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. They are demonstrating against the free trade agreement with the Mercosur states, the CAP and against the strategy developed by the government to eradicate the contagious nodular dermatosis that is affecting cattle.
"All the discussions we had with the government did not allow our demands to be heard," François Walraet, secretary general of the Rural Coordination, told franceinfo. 'Our goal now is to show that farmers are unhappy and that they want to hit back hard'.
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It was a mockery of the ministers and the important security apparatus put in place in the capital precisely to avoid tractors. 'You can demonstrate, but you cannot blockade the city,' said Annie Genevard, Minister of Agriculture, at the first hints of a march on Paris. Today the government itself made it known - through its spokeswoman - that it would not let it go, because 'these are illegal actions'.
The open letter published by the Prime Minister on X, in which Sébastien Lecornu announcedthe imminent suspension - by decree - of imports of certain products containing residues of substances banned in Europe, in the name of the eternally invoked 'principle of reciprocity', did not help to calm tempers.
'It is no longer acceptable,' writes Lecornu on X, 'for substances banned in France to enter our markets with imported products: it is a form of unfair competition, an economic injustice and a problem for the health of our consumers'. And again, explaining the consequences of the decree: 'Avocados, mangoes, guavas, citrus fruits, grapes and apples from South America or other countries will no longer be able to enter the country'.
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