DTNZ: French farmers shut off ports in EU trade deal protest

Farmers across France have stepped up protests by blocking major ports and transport routes, warning that a proposed EU trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc could devastate domestic agriculture.

Demonstrators argue the agreement would allow cheaper Latin American beef and other products into Europe, undercutting French producers who must comply with far stricter environmental and welfare standards.

Brendan O'Neill: The farmers fighting back against the irrational elites

Nothing speaks to the madness of the modern elites better than their war on farming. Consider France. One day President Macron is telling the world to get serious about ‘food security’. Post-Covid and with war raging in Ukraine, we must make sure food keeps being made and transported around the world, the French government says. Yet, at the same time, that same government, without missing a beat, is bringing in pesticide bans that could devastate sections of France’s own agriculture industry. Which could even lead to the closure of farms. Behold the schizophrenia of the 21st-century establishment.