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EU-Mercosur agreement: new day of mobilization in France, ports targeted

by AI | 12.Jan 2026 | Europe in brief AI

French farmers, protesting in particular against the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, blocked an oil depot in La Rochelle (west) and grain silos in Bayonne (southwest) on Monday, following a checkpoint set up this weekend at the port of Le Havre (northwest), agricultural unions involved in the action announced on Monday.

French farmers stand near a fire at the start of their blockade of an oil depot, as part of nationwide protests against the EU-Mercosur agreement, at the port of La Pallice in La Rochelle, in southwestern France, on January 12, 2026. (Photo: Christophe Archambault / AFP)

La Rochelle (France) – While farmers’ actions multiplied this weekend in France against the upcoming signing of this trade agreement between the European Union and the South American Mercosur countries, particularly on the A1 motorway south of Lille (north), Monday began with two blockades at port sites in the southwest of the country.

A barricade of straw bales was set up in front of oil facilities at the industrial port of La Pallice, near La Rochelle, with around thirty tractors and about sixty demonstrators at the call of the local Rural Coordination, a photographer from AFP observed.

Other demonstrators announced that they were blocking the Maïsica grain site at the port of Bayonne on Monday morning despite a ban on gatherings. “Around thirty tractors are blocking the entrances. Activists are starting to arrive on site,” the agricultural union Modef wrote in a statement.

Besides France, demonstrations have taken place in Italy, Poland and Ireland. (12 January 2026)