site.btaUPDATED European Farmers Protest EU-Mercosur Trade Deal Outside European Parliament, Some 40 Bulgarians Participate

Farmers from France and other European countries, some of them driving tractors, held a large protest in front of the European Parliament building here on Tuesday. They are opposing the European Union’s (EU) agreement with the South American trade bloc Mercosur, which was signed on Saturday. 

Bulgaria was represented at the protest by some 40 Bulgarian farmers, BTA learned from Ilia Prodanov, head of the National Association of Grain Producers (NGPA). "We want the voice of Bulgarian farmers, together with European farmers, to be heard by representatives in the European Parliament. The Mercosur issue is extremely important. We hope that MEPs will support this request so that the agreement can be stopped," Prodanov commented. In his words, the agreement does not take into account in any way the complete non-competitiveness of European farmers compared to those in South America. It puts European farmers at risk of bankruptcy because European agriculture operates under completely different conditions – economic and labour conditions. "Everything in Europe is more expensive because of the EU's green ambitions. Imports from South America to Europe will lead to a collapse in prices that producers will not be able to cover," Prodanov argued.

NGPA has demanded transparency from Bulgaria’s outgoing government over how and on what basis it supported the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, citing a lack of public information on cabinet decisions, analyses, or consultations with stakeholders. The association warns that the deal could harm sensitive agricultural sectors by increasing imports from countries with looser standards, raising concerns about fair competition for Bulgarian farmers. NGPA says the uncertainty is causing broad concern, even as the outgoing Agriculture Minister downplayed its potential impact on Bulgaria’s market. 

According to the European Commission, Bulgaria is expected to benefit economically from the EU–Mercosur trade agreement, which creates the world’s largest free-trade area and will ease access for Bulgarian companies to South American markets, particularly benefiting small businesses, industrial producers and agri-food exporters. The deal will remove tariffs on 91% of products, support exports worth hundreds of millions of euros, protect key Bulgarian geographical indications, and maintain EU food safety and sustainability standards, while including safeguards for farmers. Beyond trade in goods, it opens opportunities in services and digital trade, and follows negotiations launched in 1999, with the agreement now awaiting approval by the European Parliament and the EU Council before entering into force. 

Europe’s largest agricultural organization, Copa-Cogeca, backed the demonstration, which was called by France’s biggest farmers’ union, the National Federation of Agricultural Holders' Unions (FNSEA). France was among the countries that opposed the Mercosur agreement due to concerns about competition in the agricultural sector from duty-free imports from South America.

Participants gathered at Place de Bordeaux at 10:00 a.m. (11:00 a.m. Bulgarian time), while tractors continued to arrive in the city. At 10:30 a.m., a march set off from the square toward the European Parliament building, where protest leaders delivered speeches.