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French Farmers Press On at Ports and Highways as A63 Reopens After Prefect's Intervention

The EU plans to sign the Mercosur pact on Jan. 17 with a later Parliament vote that protesters hope to sway.

Overview

  • At Le Havre, farmers entered a third day of truck inspections to screen out imported food they deem non‑compliant, reporting finds such as foreign flour and packaged goods while keeping port operations open.
  • On the A1 near Lille, Coordination Rurale maintains a filtered blockade at the Fresnes-lès-Montauban toll with roughly 100 tractors and about 200 participants, saying they can hold for several days on France's busiest motorway.
  • The A63 at Bayonne was cleared overnight after the Pyrénées-Atlantiques prefect warned of force and negotiated on site, with authorities reporting no damage and traffic resuming in both directions.
  • New actions targeted ports in the southwest, including a straw-bale blockade at La Pallice in La Rochelle and a shutdown of the Maïsica cereal site in Bayonne led by Confédération paysanne, Modef and ELB despite a rally ban.
  • Brussels says Ursula von der Leyen will sign the deal on Jan. 17 before a later European Parliament vote, as the French government touts high DNC vaccination rates and new subsidies and import checks but organizers keep mobilizing, including a Jan. 20 rally in Strasbourg.