Overview
- EU member states approved the accord on 9 January by qualified majority, overriding France’s opposition alongside several others including Poland, Hungary and Ireland.
- The Commission plans to sign the agreement as soon as Monday in Paraguay, and a last‑minute procedural change allows provisional application before the European Parliament votes.
- French farmers kept up blockades and slow convoys after the vote, with Interior Ministry figures citing 67 actions involving about 2,200 people and 600 tractors, and unions preparing further demonstrations including a possible 20 January rally in Strasbourg.
- Opposition parties escalated pressure at home and in Brussels, as the Rassemblement National and La France Insoumise announced motions of censure, with RN also targeting the von der Leyen Commission in the European Parliament.
- Key terms fueling farm anger include import quotas of 99,000 tonnes of beef over six years and 180,000 tonnes of poultry over five years, while broader EU support was shored up by a promised €45 billion advance on Common Agricultural Policy funds that helped win over Italy.