00:00French President Emmanuel Macron has confirmed that France will vote against the European Union's trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur.
00:08He made the announcement on Thursday after French farmers brought their long-running protest movement to the capital,
00:13rolling their tractors past police checkpoints to iconic monuments like the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.
00:19Still, even without France's vote, the Mercosur deal is still expected to pass.
00:24For some reaction, we can bring in Laura Darnat, who raises horses, ponies and chickens in France's southwestern Dordogne region.
00:31Now, she is Scottish-born but living in France, and her French husband is also a farmer.
00:36She's also close to the Union Coordination Rural, which organized yesterday's protest in Paris.
00:41Thank you so much for joining us.
00:42Just first, your reaction to Emmanuel Macron's announcement that France is going to be voting against Mercosur.
00:48Good morning, Alison. Yes, it's excellent news that Emmanuel Macron will be voting against the trade deal Mercosur.
00:58We're very pleased about that. We just hope, obviously, Europe as a whole will do the same.
01:05That's not looking likely, though, given that Italy has suggested that they are going to be voting for the deal.
01:11Can you explain why farmers are so upset about it?
01:14Well, because we breed cows all over France.
01:21We have the best French, we have the best meat in Europe.
01:26We don't need meat exported from South America.
01:30In South America, they have different rules and regulations as to hygiene and so on compared to us.
01:37But we breed enough animals in France, in Europe, to feed all of us.
01:44Ecologically, it's not a sound idea.
01:47We have enough here in Europe.
01:50Why do we need animals sent, meat sent from South America crossing the Atlantic to Europe?
01:59We have fantastic meat here, quality meat that's well-raised, well-looked after.
02:06We should be supporting our local farmers and not farmers from abroad.
02:10The Mercosur deal isn't only about meat, though.
02:13It's said to benefit other farming sectors like wine and milk exporters.
02:17Does that make a difference to your movement?
02:18Well, yes, it does.
02:22We're for everybody, all sectors.
02:24But at the same time, we should be supporting our local farmers, our local food, and not bringing food from abroad,
02:33unless it's absolutely necessary that we can't obviously grow it by ourselves.
02:38France has demanded some concessions, like allowing the EU to reimpose tariffs if prices fall by 5%.
02:46Do those concessions make a difference to you?
02:48We want to obviously keep prices the same.
02:56French farmers want to have a fair price for their products, which they don't at the minute.
03:03We want to produce our own food, sell it at the correct price.
03:09I know that you've also been upset about France's response to lumpy skin disease in cows.
03:14Can you talk a little bit about that?
03:16Yes, we want the killing of the herds, of the entire herds, to stop.
03:23It's ridiculous.
03:25If one cow is ill with lumpy skin disease, for example, as in the Ariège a few weeks ago, they killed the whole herd of cows.
03:38The whole herd.
03:39They didn't need to kill the whole herd.
03:41They could have isolated the cow that was ill.
03:44And what we are pushing for is the isolation of any herds of cows who do have lumpy skin disease.
03:53But we're pushing for a full vaccination program.
03:57We have to remember this disease is passed on by insects.
04:02We're in wintertime now.
04:03It's been very, very cold here recently over the past week.
04:07Now is the time we should really be vaccinating the herds.
04:11France, the French government has proceeded with vaccination of herds in the affected area in the southwest.
04:18I believe as of yesterday, they were at 84 percent vaccination, which is quite high.
04:23Do you feel that that's been successful?
04:25Yes, it's a good start.
04:29It's a good start.
04:31But every herd needs to be vaccinated.
04:34The French government's response by, as you were talking about, kind of these mass killings, culling cattle.
04:40Experts say that that is the best and fastest way to stop the spread of the disease.
04:46What do you make of that explanation?
04:50Well, there are two thoughts and two sides to every story.
04:53We don't agree with that at all.
04:55A cow which is ill with lumpy skin disease, the percentage of it dying is very limited.
05:07It can survive.
05:09There's a huge percentage that it will survive.
05:12And obviously, it won't pass on to other cows.
05:16It's passed on to other cows, other cattle, by insects, as has been explained.
05:21Many farmers in France talk about sort of a general feeling of being forgotten by the government, being disregarded.
05:28Is that a sentiment that you yourself share?
05:30Oh, yes, definitely.
05:32Oh, yes, definitely.
05:34Definitely.
05:35We are forgotten about all the time.
05:37Each winter, it's the same thing.
05:39We come out and protest for various issues.
05:41They agree to some things, but we are forgotten about totally for lots and lots of different things.
05:53Is there sort of a political element, would you say, to the farmers' protests?
05:58I know that unions such as the one that you're close to, the Coordination Rural, is said to be close to the far right and the party of Marine Le Pen.
06:08Is that something, as a member of the union, that you're aware of?
06:11Do you see farmers' movements as political as well?
06:14No, the Coordination Rural is not far right at all.
06:21It was put in place because there was no syndicate that supported the everyday local farmer.
06:31The FNFCR were very close to the government and tended to rule and put things in place with the government.
06:46And there was nobody, there was no syndicate to represent the everyday local small farmer.
06:53And that's why the Coordination Rural came into being.
06:57And just finally and briefly, Laura, I wanted to ask you if you plan to continue these protests.
07:07Yes, yes, we do plan to continue the protests.
07:12Yesterday in Paris, our president made it very clear that we would be staying in Paris until we had positive results.
07:22He also made it very clear, it was also made very clear at the roundabout, the Port d'Otai, that if the CRS start to gas us, as they did in the Ariège, which is shocking, absolutely shocking, then we would retaliate and we would push forward with our tractors.
07:42All right, well, we will continue to follow your protest movement.
07:46Laura Darnat, thank you again so much for giving us your perspective this morning.
07:50That's Laura Darnat, who raises horses, ponies and chickens in France's southwestern Dordogne region.
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