On 8th January, the Interior Ministry said that about 100 tractors were in place in the capital at a number of symbolic sites, such as in front of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.

Police surrounded traders who broke through police checkpoints to enter the city and drove up the Champs-Elysée and blocked roads around the Arc de Triomphe before dawn.

Highways to Paris that were in the access of dozens of tractors to block, in advance of the morning rush hour, such as the A13 of the western suburbs and Normandy. The transport minister reported that the transport jams were 150 kilometres long due to the disruption.

“Resentment and despair lie between us. We feel betrayed, and Mercosur is one such case,” said Stephane Pelletier, one of the senior leaders of the right-wing Coordination Rurale union, to Reuters.

Banned protest

Various unions of farmers had already protested in Paris; they feared that the intended free trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc of four South American nations was going to flood the European Union with imported foodstuffs.

They, too, are furious at the way the government dealt with an outbreak of cattle disease.

The action took place even after a ban on tractors was announced by a prefect on Wednesday, which outlawed the entry of tractors in some sensitive sites within the capital.

A government spokesperson, Maud Bregeon, of FranceInfo public radio, said, “what was happening this morning was illegal.”

Police wanted to take care not to engage in conflicts with the demonstrators. Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said: Farmers are not our enemies.

Eve of Mercosur vote

The demonstration put the President, Emmanuel Macron, and his government under strain, just a day before the European Union member states are to vote on the trade accord.

France has greatly resisted the deal, and till the last-minute compromise, the final stance of Macron was still not clear.

In the first part of this week, the European Commission was suggesting that it would advance 45 billion euros of EU funds to the farmers in the next seven-year budget of the European bloc. It also talked of reducing importation tariffs on certain fertilisers so as to appeal to the nations that were hesitating with the Mercosur agreement.

Germany and Spain are in support, and the Commission seems to have a chance to win Italy. That would allow the EU to pass the accord with or without France.

The accord is likely to be voted on on Friday.

In France Info, Bregeon said, “the treaty is not yet acceptable without even stating whether Macron would vote on the deal or not, or abstain.”

Bruno Retailleau, the head of the conservative republican party, warned on Wednesday that Macron would expose the government to censure with his backing of Mercosur.

The farmers are also clamoring that the government should abandon a policy of culling cows to contain the highly contagious lumpy skin disease. Instead, they claim that it is better to have a vaccination.