Overview
- Dozens of Coordination Rurale tractors entered Paris before dawn, parking near the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe despite prefectural bans and a Paris police order restricting access to sensitive zones.
- Authorities deployed thousands of officers and mobile gendarmes around the capital, anticipated up to 350 tractors on approach, and reported arrests in the Yvelines after a convoy forced a gendarmerie checkpoint.
- Regional actions continued, with roadblocks and disruptions around Toulouse and other areas, and local prosecutors reporting multiple detentions largely for obstructing traffic.
- The protests center on opposition to the EU–Mercosur agreement expected to reach a possible Jan. 12 signing after a qualified‑majority approval that could be put to member states as soon as Friday, with the Commission stressing limited import quotas and safeguard clauses.
- Brussels announced an early €45 billion release in the next CAP period to ease pressures, the French government activated crisis coordination and promised measures by week’s end, and unions pressed demands over bovine disease policy, fertilizer costs, and farm incomes.