EU likely to delay free-trade deal with South America as French farmers block roads

PARIS (AP) — French farmers are driving opposition to a massive transatlantic trade deal between five South American nations of the Mercosur bloc and the 27-nation European Union that officials say will likely lead to its delay.

Farmers turned out across France with heavy tractors this week to build makeshift barricades and block roads, tried and tested methods of pressuring the French government that have previously proved successful in winning concessions.

They are incensed by the planned free-trade deal between the EU and the five active Mercosur countries — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia — that would progressively remove duties on almost all goods traded between the two blocs over the next 15 years.

The accord has been under negotiation for 25 years, and once ratified would cover a market of 780 million people and a quarter of the globe’s gross domestic product.

EU lawmakers voted Tuesday to advance the deal by adding new safeguards to it in addition to approving concessions to farmers made by the European Commission. It is still likely to be delayed because three key demands from the French have not yet been met.

In France, an agricultural powerhouse, farmers’ concerns about the Mercosur trade deal are combining with anger about government sanitary measures against the spread of a bovine disease, creating a volatile cocktail of rural discontent and growing protest.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Tuesday from a tractor blockade on a highway leading into Paris, aspiring farmer Loic Rivière said he was fighting for his ambition of setting up his own cereal or vegetable farm.

“We want to protect our future,” he said. “What we face isn’t the same as our parents. There’s more competition, more globalization, more diseases” affecting crops and animals.

Scattered cases in France of lumpy skin disease, a viral cattle disease previously confined to sub-Saharan Africa and mainly transmitted by insect bites, are inflaming emotions in farming communities, after government officials ordered the culling of infected herds.

About 30 tractors blocked the RN12 highway heading toward Paris at the protest Tuesday that Riviere was part of, he said. French media reporting from other demonstrations around the country this week showed farmers piling up potatoes, tires, straw bales and other things they had at hand to make barricades. Some were set on fire, creating dramatic television images of flames and smoke that gave an impression of bubbling rural fury, even though some of the protests were relatively small and scattered.

Motorists showed their support for the protesting farmers by tooting their horns, Rivière said.

Farmers “are fed up of not being listened to,” he said. “What we do is the foundation of life but obstacles are being thrown in our way.”

Some of those farmers will continue on to join a march on Brussels as leaders gather for a much-anticipated summit of EU leaders grappling with the Mercosur deal and funding Ukraine.

Worried by a surging far right that rallies support by criticizing the deal, the French have demanded safeguards to monitor and stop large economic disruption in the EU, increased regulations in the South American partner nations like pesticide restrictions, and more inspections of imports at EU ports.

“Today we don’t see them (the safeguards), that’s why we’ve asked for a delay,” said Benjamin Haddad, France’s Minister of European Affairs ahead of a meeting in Brussels. He called on the bloc to “stop being naive” and to protect European agriculture from “unfair competition" by adopting assertive trade policies styled after Washington and Beijing.

“This is what the Americans do, this is what the Chinese do, and so, we need to be open, but we also need to protect ourselves and protect our interests and basically ensure a level playing field,” Haddad said.

France is joined by other EU nations with large agricultural sectors critical of the deal — including Poland and Ireland.

The “Irish government has some concerns,” said Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence. “The indications that I have at the moment is that it will be delayed until January.”

Yet there was clear support for the Mercosur deal among EU lawmakers. They voted 431-161, with 70 abstentions, to advance the deal.

“The Mercosur trade agreement will strengthen Europe’s geopolitical position. It will make us less dependent on China, on Russia and the moods of Donald Trump. It is the clear signal to the world the EU is a reliable partner,” said Svenja Hahn, a German MEP with the center-right Renew Europe coalition.

Philipp Lausberg, an analyst at the European Policy Centre, argued that delays now could risk the deal itself as more right-wing governments come into power in the EU. The deal would help the EU secure markets for its exports and key imports like rare earths, but “if they don’t do it now, then the chances of it going through are waning,” he said.

Bernd Lange, a German lawmaker, said that not signing would be "geopolitically irresponsible and economical nonsense.”

“Some other powers that like to portray us as irrelevant would then rub their hands with glee,” he said. "The finish line for is now in sight and we should cross it.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is determined to sign the agreement, but needs the backing of at least two-thirds of member countries. It remains unclear whether France could find enough allies to veto her signature.

Despite the likelihood of a delay, von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa are still scheduled to sign the deal in Brazil on Saturday.

FILE - French farmers protest against the Mercosur trade alliance with South America countries, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025 near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

FILE - French Deputy minister in charge of European Affairs Benjamin Haddad leaves the weekly cabinet meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

FILE - French farmers protest with a poster reading "Mercosur betrays our cultures" against the Mercosur trade alliance with South America countries Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025 near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

FILE - French farmers gather around a fire as they block the highway near Urt, southwestern France, to protest against a mass cull of cows ordered to contain the spread of a skin disease, Monday Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Nicolas Mollo, File)

A Paris labor court ruled that Paris Saint-Germain must pay more than 60 million euros ($70 million) to Kylian Mbappé in a dispute over unpaid wages and bonuses linked to the end of the France superstar's contract in 2024.

Lawyers argued last month before the Conseil de prud’hommes de Paris in a judicial fight involving colossal sums. On Tuesday, the court sided with Mbappé amid accusations of betrayal and moral harassment that marked the breakdown of his relationship with PSG.

The award roughly corresponds to Mbappé's initial claim of 55 million euros.

“It’s been 18 months indeed that Kylian Mbappé has been asking for the same thing — the payment of his wages, his bonus, for the work he carried out," Mbappé’s lawyer Delphine Verheyden said. "I’m sure he will be happy to close this chapter because it was very important for him to be paid for the work he did while playing for PSG.”

In November, his lawyers claimed that PSG owed him more than 260 million euros, arguing that his fixed-term contract should be reclassified as a permanent one — a move rejected by the judges. Such a reclassification could have triggered compensation for unfair dismissal, unpaid wages, bonuses, and severance.

PSG sought 440 million euros from Mbappé, citing damages and a “loss of opportunity” after he left on a free transfer. The club said it respects the ruling and will comply with it, while reserving all rights to appeal.

“Paris Saint-Germain has acted in good faith and honesty throughout, and we always will,” PSG said. “The club looks forward to the future based on collective unity and success; and we wish the player the best for the future.”

Mbappé's representatives said the ruling “confirms that commitments must be honored. It restores a simple truth: Even in the professional football industry labor law applies to everyone.”

The relationship between the 2018 World Cup winner and the reigning European champion turned bitter when Mbappé decided in 2023 not to extend his contract, which was set to expire in summer 2024.

This deprived the club of a juicy transfer fee despite having offered him the most lucrative contract in club history when he signed a new deal in 2022. He was sidelined from a preseason tour and forced to train with fringe players.

He missed the opening league game but returned to the lineup for a final season after discussions with the club — talks that are central to the dispute.

The club accused Mbappé of backing out of an August 2023 agreement that allegedly included a pay reduction should he leave on a free transfer, an arrangement PSG said was meant to protect its financial stability. PSG claimed Mbappé hid his decision not to extend his contract for nearly 11 months, from July 2022 to June 2023, preventing the club from arranging a transfer and causing major financial harm. It accused him of violating contractual obligations and the principles of good faith and loyalty.

Mbappé’s camp insisted PSG has never produced evidence that the striker agreed to forego any payment. His lawyers claimed the club failed to pay wages and bonuses for April, May, and June 2024.

“Mbappé scrupulously fulfilled his sporting and contractual obligations for seven years and right up to the final day,” his advisers said on Tuesday. “He did everything possible to avoid litigation, even going so far as to withdraw a harassment complaint in a spirit of conciliation. In total, he had been seeking payment of his salaries and bonuses for more than 18 months.”

PSG rejected all accusations of harassment, highlighting that Mbappé took part in over 94% of matches in 2023–24 and always worked under conditions compliant with the Professional Football Charter. The club’s claims included 180 million euros for the lost opportunity to transfer Mbappé, who left as a free agent after turning down a 300 million euros offer from Saudi club Al-Hilal in July 2023.

Mbappé joined PSG from Monaco for 180 million euros. He signed for Real Madrid in the summer of 2024 on a free transfer after scoring a club-record 256 goals in seven years at PSG, which won the Champions League this year without him.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - PSG striker Kylian Mbappe, right, and PSG president Nasser Al-Al-Khelaifi attend a press conference Monday, May 23, 2022 at the Paris des Princes stadium in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, File)

FILE - PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi, left, speaks to PSG's Kylian Mbappe as it is announced he has signed a three year extension to his contract, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, May 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, File)