French farmers, who are protesting the authorities’ handling of the outbreak of contagious bovine nodular dermatitis, continued today to block roadways as well as a railway line, in a protest movement that also includes opposition to the signing of the EU–Mercosur free trade agreement.

As Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was beginning a meeting with ministers and regional prefects concerned by the demonstrations, the A64 motorway linking Bayonne to Toulouse in southwestern France remained blocked by farmers along a stretch of 180 kilometers.

🚨 🇫🇷 ALERTE INFO : Des agriculteurs en colère investissent et bloquent la N12 direction Paris, dans les Yvelines à Méré, à quelques kilomètres de la capitale.

Action en solidarité avec les éleveurs du sud et contre le Mercosur.

Un ❤️ pour les soutenir ‼️

Images : Luc Auffret pic.twitter.com/GwWBNUtAIS

— Wolf 🐺 (@PsyGuy007) December 16, 2025

In particular, in Carbonne, near Toulouse, where farmers have been camping for a fourth night, tractors and bales of straw are blocking the motorway.

A farmers’ demonstration at a level crossing in Villefranche-de-Lauragais is also preventing train traffic between Toulouse and Castelnaudary, according to an announcement by rail network operator SNCF Réseau.

The main road leading to Andorra has been blocked since Friday. The Andorran government expressed regret over the impact of the blockade on the country’s duty-free shops, which are usually crowded in the run-up to Christmas.

After the appearance of a first outbreak in France in June, the state’s strategy to combat nodular dermatitis предусматри… (strategy continues): it provides for the culling of all animals on farms where a case is detected, restrictions on the movement of herds, and “emergency vaccination” of cattle within a 50-kilometer radius around the affected zone, but not a nationwide vaccination campaign.

The visit of Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard to southeastern France did not calm the situation.

“After the minister’s announcements yesterday, Monday, the blockades are not ready to be lifted,” said Guillaume Benazet, regional secretary of the farmers’ union Jeunes Agriculteurs (Young Farmers). “Everything we proposed—especially stopping the culling of entire herds—was not examined. Therefore, we are continuing,” he added.

In the Paris region, farmers also blocked a national road today in Méré.

“French agriculture is at stake,” said Vincent Toumier, 30, general secretary of the Young Farmers in Yvelines, where the protests began. “So far we have not been affected by the disease, but given how quickly it spreads, there is a risk that it will reach us, and we must address this issue as a priority, at the same time as Mercosur. For me, everything is connected,” the farmer stressed.