Macron's final straw? France paralysed, EU stunned as trade deal trigger full-blown farmer uprising

French farmers have turned highways into flashpoints as anger deepens over the EU–Mercosur trade deal they fear will crush European agriculture. Tractors, barricades and burning debris around Paris signal a showdown between rural France and Brussels. Dozens of farmers blocked the N12 highway west of Paris at Mére on December 16, parking tractors across the carriageway and demanding government intervention. Signs such as “Macron answer!” and “No to Mercosur” were plastered on vehicles as they called for protection of local agriculture.