You're Playing with Fire – Farmers Protesting in Strasbourg Had Enough

Bulgarian farmers have joined the pan-European protest in Strasbourg against the free trade agreement planned with the Mercosur bloc of South American countries. Ursula von der Leyen and her colleagues signed the Mercosur agreement over the weekend without it even being approved by the European Parliament, MEP Csaba Domotor said, reacting to the situation.

Farmers protest (Photo: AFP)

Several Bulgarian professional organizations, including the Grain Producers Association, the Agricultural Union, and the United Livestock Breeders Association, have officially opposed the trade agreement.

Farmers block the street with tractors during a protest against the Mercosur trade agreement (Photo: Anadolu via AFP / Luc Auffret)

Those affected fear that the agreement will lead to an influx of cheap agricultural products into Europe, undermining local production.

One Bulgarian farmer has been producing and exporting wine for more than thirty years, primarily to European markets. Thirty percent of his production is exported, while the rest is sold domestically, Fakti reports.

In his view, tariff-free wine imports, especially from Argentina, could flood the European market.  This clearly carries the risk that extremely cheap Argentine wines will appear in Europe, thereby threatening exports, said the winemaker and wine trader. Wine trade between Bulgaria and the Mercosur countries is currently negligible and does not pose a threat to the domestic market, but it represents a serious risk to our European exports, he explained.

Manifestation des agriculteurs à Strasbourg : les premiers tracteurs (en provenance de Pau) sont arrivés à proximité du Parlement européen à l'aube. Une cinquantaine sont rangés en file indienne avenue Schutzenberger.#Mercosur pic.twitter.com/y3QmNJMWXe

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The head of the grain producers chamber believes the Mercosur agreement is not about free trade, but about unfair competition.

According to Ilia Prodanov, president of the National Association of Grain Producers, European farmers produce at completely different cost levels because they must comply with far stricter environmental, administrative, social, and labor regulations. In Europe, working conditions and environmental rules are extremely strict, and the range of permitted crop protection chemicals is heavily limited.

Grain producers fear that not only cheap wheat, corn, and soy, but also related products such as poultry and beef could flood European markets.

The European Parliament will vote on the Mercosur agreement soon, and after that the national parliaments of the member states will decide on it.

"What a Shame" – Csaba Domotor on the Mercosur Agreement

In a video shared on his Facebook page, Csaba Domotor, MEP for Fidesz, commented on the debate on the Mercosur agreement.

What a shame! Ursula von der Leyen and her colleagues signed the Mercosur agreement over the weekend without the European Parliament having approved it. This alone says a lot about what those who constantly lecture others about democratic rights actually think about them,

the politician said.

In a few hours, farmers will protest here in large numbers in front of the European Parliament. They are  furious, and they have every reason to be. EU markets are being opened toward South America and toward Ukraine, and subsidies are to be cut by 20 percent, forcing farmers to compete as best they can with the agribusiness giants of South America, where environmental regulations are much less stringent,

he said in the video.

He pointed out that protests against the agreement are taking place across Europe, while the issue is not even placed on the agenda of the European Parliament’s plenary session. The chamber will debate the situation in Honduras and the Central African Republic, he added, but not a treaty that affects the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers and the quality of food placed on European families’ tables.

A treaty that affects the lives of hundreds of thousands of farmers and whether healthy food ends up on European families’ tables cannot even be debated. What a disgrace! You are playing with fire!

he said.

Cover photo: Farmers protest (Photo: AFP)