Europe’s farmers promise biggest protests yet in response to globalist Mercosur deal
While delusional remainers continue to blame Brexit for the woes of British farming, the EU has just agreed to sell its agricultural sector down the river
After 25 years of negotiations, Ursula von der Leyen has gleefully announced that a free-trade agreement has been reached between the EU and Mercosur, an economic bloc consisting of Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia. All that remains is for the deal to be ratified by 15 of the 27 European Union member states representing 65% of the EU population.
If successful, the European Commission will adopt a zero tariff rate for 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry, which risks displacing up to 18% of EU beef output and driving prices down across the continent.
It is difficult to see how this can be portrayed as a good deal for European farmers. It seems instead that the real winners, as in most cases, are the big multinational conglomerates and their representatives in Brussels, as the deal marks yet another step towards the globalisation of the world economy, something which is opposed by significant numbers of ordinary voters.
Perhaps this explains why countries such as France, Poland, Austria and Ireland have all voiced their concerns over how the Mercosur deal will impact their domestic agricultural industries. Italy, too, are rumoured to have serious misgivings about the agreement, and will only acquiesce if safeguards are given to their farmers, including increased cash subsidies.
But for many farmers across the continent, this new deal will prove the final straw. They have faced a tumultuous few years dealing with the effects of ruinous lockdown policies, rising energy prices and the prioritisation of Ukrainian goods. Add to this an impending influx of cheaper Mercosur produce, it would appear that policymakers in Brussels are seeking to deliberately destroy their own farming communities.
But Europe’s farmers are not going to take this lying down. Protests are already being planned by the major European farming organisations. Bart Dickens, president of the Farmers Defence Force Belgium, has warned that anti-Mercosur protests will be far bigger than those seen in Brussels earlier this year which witnessed dramatic scenes of tyre fires and government buildings being sprayed with livestock muck.
This time round, farmers are threatening to go for the jugular and threaten supermarket supplies.
“We can stop the food supply, the distribution to supermarkets’’ Dickens told the Telegraph.
“I hope we can do that across European countries. It’s an example. If you kill the farmers, the supermarket shelves will be empty and you won’t have what you want any more.”
Despite the threat of widespread protest, 11 member states have already given the green light to the deal, including Spain and Germany.
Yet two days ago in Madrid, thousands of Spanish farmers turned out to voice their disapproval at the new economic policy. The question is, will Pedro Sanchez change course and stand up for all the hard-working men and women who feed his nation, or will he succumb to the diktats of an out-of-touch Brussels elite?
If Sanchez does side with the EU, he will, like many of his fellow European leaders, be in for a very rough 2025.