By Catalina Guerrero
Paris (EFE).- The French government is scrambling to contain a new wave of farmer protests in southwestern France, sparked by the spread of a contagious cattle disease and opposition to the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, as Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard traveled to the region and Paris signaled resistance to signing the pact.
The protests center on outbreaks of lumpy skin disease in cattle and government-mandated culling measures, as well as long-standing anger among farmers over trade policies they say threaten French agriculture.
Genevard visited Toulouse on Monday as authorities began vaccinating between 600,000 and 1 million cattle in southwestern regions, including Occitanie, the Landes, and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
Farmers have staged road and highway blockades in protest against the compulsory slaughter of herds where infections are detected.
“We must give farmers hope that we can defeat this disease, and we can do it,” Genevard told BFMTV, citing recent success in containing the virus in eastern France. She defended the EU-mandated strategy based on three pillars: culling infected animals, vaccination, and restrictions on cattle movements.
“To prevent this disease from destroying the entire herd, we must fight it with maximum energy and efficiency,” she said, calling the protocol “solid and effective.” The dominant FNSEA National Federation farmers’ union supports the approach, though Genevard acknowledged that for affected farmers the losses are “a tragedy.”
She rejected calls from some unions to confine herds instead of culling, saying disease-carrying insects cannot be contained, and warned that violations of movement restrictions pose “an immense risk.”
Divisions among farm unions
More militant unions, including Rural Coordination and the Confédération Paysanne, remain opposed to systematic culling, particularly of rare breeds, and are demanding mass vaccination.
Authorities and the meat industry oppose that option, arguing it could jeopardize French beef exports.
The Elysee Palace said French President Emmanuel Macron is closely monitoring the situation and “supports farmers with the same intensity as always,” underscoring government concern over the growing unrest.
Mercosur deal adds fuel
Tensions have been further inflamed by the planned signing of the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, scheduled for Dec. 20 in Brazil.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called late Sunday for the signing to be postponed to secure stronger safeguards for European agriculture.
European farmers’ groups have announced a major protest in Brussels on Dec. 18, coinciding with an EU summit.
Meanwhile, traffic disruptions continued across southwestern France.
Major highways, including the A64 between Toulouse and Bayonne and parts of the A63, A9, and A89, were closed or restricted, forcing trucks from Spain to turn back near the Biriatou border crossing.
Authorities urged drivers to check conditions before traveling through the region. EFE
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