"France is a great trading nation. France is the world's sixth largest food exporter. Why are French farmers and French politicians so viscerally hostile to trade? French farmers get over 9 billion a year in subsidies from Brussels, more than any other country. And yet they oppose any EU trade agreement which would help other industries but might provide limited competition to farmers."
"The National Assembly will vote on two censure motions on Wednesday, which seek to topple the government because the EU plans to sign a trade deal with the Mercosur bloc of four South American countries. France voted against the treaty last week, even though the EU had accepted most of its safeguard demands. The Far Right and Far Left are, nonetheless, trying to censure the government for something that it rejected. They will fail but the oddities of France v Mercosur do not end there."
French farmers receive over €9 billion annually in EU subsidies, yet many remain deep in debt, angry and politically influential. Strong government support coexists with persistent opposition to EU trade deals that might introduce limited competition. The Mercosur trade dispute exemplifies the tension: France formally opposed the treaty despite EU concessions and vocal demands for safeguards from beef, poultry and sugar producers. The treaty’s projected impact on EU production and consumption is small, while some French sectors, including wine, dairy, automotive and luxury goods, stand to benefit. Political maneuvers by the Far Right and Far Left attempted to censure the government over the issue.
Read at www.thelocal.fr
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]