French President Emmanuel Macron met representatives of France’s main farmers’ unions on Tuesday, December 23, in an effort to defuse growing anger across the countryside over trade policy and livestock disease management.
The talks come as farmers have staged widespread protests in recent days, blocking roads, dumping manure and garbage outside government buildings, and demanding urgent changes to agricultural policy.
At the centre of the dispute is a controversial free trade agreement under negotiation between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
Farmers fear the deal will expose French agriculture to a surge of cheaper imports, particularly beef and other farm products, undercutting domestic producers already struggling with rising costs and strict environmental standards.
“The purpose of the meeting was to try to put out the fire that is raging across the countryside,” said Stéphane Galais of the Confederation Paysanne union after the talks, calling for what he described as “strong structural measures.”
Union leaders said they used the meeting to convey the depth of frustration within the farming community, warning that tensions remain extremely high despite the government’s willingness to listen.
“What was important for us was to convey to the head of state the extreme tension that is affecting the agricultural world,” said Arnaud Rousseau, head of the influential FNSEA union, which has firmly opposed the Mercosur agreement.
The EU-Mercosur pact, if finalised, would create the world’s largest free trade area, benefiting European exporters of vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits at a time of heightened global trade uncertainty.
However, French farmers argue that agricultural concessions in the deal would leave them competing with producers in South America, where production costs and regulatory standards are often lower.
In response to mounting opposition, French authorities have indicated that any further decisions on the Mercosur agreement will be postponed until January, though this has done little to calm unrest.
Compounding the dispute is the government’s handling of lumpy skin disease, a viral infection affecting cattle that has spread in parts of France since June.
The agriculture ministry confirmed a new outbreak in southwestern France on Tuesday, bringing the total number of recorded cases nationwide to 115.
Government policy mandates the culling of all animals in affected herds, a measure supported by the FNSEA but rejected by other unions demanding vaccination instead of mass slaughter.
The issue has exposed divisions within the farming sector, with smaller unions accusing authorities of failing to protect livelihoods and rural communities.
Despite the meeting at the Élysée Palace, union leaders said protests would continue unless concrete policy changes are announced in the coming weeks.
As France heads into the new year, the government faces mounting pressure to balance trade ambitions, public health measures and the survival of its farming sector, a cornerstone of the country’s economy and identity.