Farmers’ anger: – “Mercosur should never become reality”

In an urgent and poignant letter to the European Commission, European farmers’ organizations now warn of the dramatic consequences of a Mercosur agreement. In the letter they make it unmistakably clear that opening the market for products from South America would mean the end of many companies. “Our farmers are already struggling with rising costs, stricter requirements and enormous price pressure. This agreement would be the death knell,” the appeal said.

Farmers pin their hopes on Macron
Particularly in the enormous agricultural country of France, resistance to the ill-fated free trade pact has erupted into angry protests. The ‘farmers’, known to be rebellious, have called for a march on Paris across the Grande Nation. Across the country, roads were blocked, protest fires were lit and wooden crosses were erected to urgently draw attention to the looming dangers to their existence. A ray of hope for all struggling farmers on the continent: President Emmanuel Macron has made no secret of the fact that he will not sign the agreement. Not only this leader is demanding: an immediate stop to the negotiations!

Warning for the “burning” Europe
In any case, the protests against the climate murder pact do not stop elsewhere. Because now agriculturally powerful Poland is switching to the camp of Mercosur critics with flying colors. Prime Minister Donald Tusk was angry with Brussels that the agreement was not acceptable in its current form. In fact, Warsaw and Paris are forging an alliance to organize a blocking minority within the EU and stop negotiations on a free trade zone with Brazil. The Polish government also adopted a resolution.

Because the agreement could have a huge impact on the beef and poultry sectors, farmers in the eastern EU country also took to the streets and blocked the Medyka border crossing with Ukraine for hours! “If Brussels goes ahead with the pact, Europe will be on fire, the angry farmers warn.

“Red alarm” in Austrian courts
There is also increasing resistance among farmers in Austria. “Our small-scale mountain and organic farming should not be used as a bargaining chip for other interests in such a trade agreement,” complains Niki Berlakovich, the Austrian farmer representative in Brussels. Austria’s turquoise EU MP Alexander Bernhuber is even clearer: “This agreement is nothing but a sellout of our values! We in Europe pay attention to the environment, animal welfare and quality. And do we now have to pay for that with our existence? Not with us!”

The powerful red-white-red farmers, as well as Paul Nemecek, director of the Lower Austrian Farmers’ Association, make it unmistakably clear: “This agreement must never become a reality. We demand an immediate stop to the negotiations! Austria must remain at the forefront of the resistance – for our farmers, for our environment and for all of us!” President of the Chamber of Agriculture Josef Moosbrugger also reports from his home stable in Vorarlberg with a clear rejection of the deal.

“The vast majority of the products whose exchange this devastating agreement must encourage are fueling the destruction of rainforests and thus species extinction. The pact would flood Europe with cheap beef that threatens livelihoods and would also deal a death blow to our beet farmers through the import of sugar,” Alexander Egit, head of Greenpeace Europe, is once again sounding the alarm. This is clearly the case in the Cerrado, the second green lung in the world next to the Amazon. Because – as the WWF has repeatedly shown – not even a single blade of grass grows there anymore.

The once flourishing paradise for soy cultivation was completely cleared over hundreds of kilometers, only to throw even more cheap genetically modified feed for pigs and cattle onto the world market.

“More exports would result in even more grazing areas for tortured cattle,” says Egit. What outrages both environmental and consumer advocates: in South America, production takes place under the most socially questionable conditions.