The second agricultural union in France, the Rural Coordination does not hesitate to appear with RN deputies. Enough to revive criticism of a contested movement, particularly for its anti-green positions and its violent actions.
Since the first peasant blockades, you have surely seen their rallying sign: the yellow cap marked “CR”, for “Rural Coordination”. The second French agricultural union, behind the FNSEA and ahead of the Confédération paysanne, has joined the demands of the agricultural world for two weeks. If the union is not well known to the general public, it maintains an anti-green, sovereignist reputation, and sometimes close to certain parties positioned on the right of the French political spectrum.
Violent actions
While the main agricultural union, FNSEA, has decided to listen to the government, notably through its president Arnaud Rousseau, the strategy is not the same for Rural Coordination and its president, Véronique Le Floc’h who has called several times to continue the movement. A standoff that seems to be a habit.
Two years ago, a member of the CR tried to pass an activist from the movement Basins no thank you! over the railing of a bridge, as part of a rally against megabasins in Deux-Sèvres. Rebelote two months later at the Agricultural Show. The stand of the Confédération Paysanne was attacked, three people from the CR then uttered insults on the spot, including the president of the Lot-et-Garonne section. Two complaints were filed.
Close ties with the National Rally
If rural coordination is not its first attempt in terms of violence, it does not hesitate to appear with the members of the National Rally (RN). The president of the RN Jordan Bardella notably visited the Médoc, to a farm at the very beginning of the farmers’ unrest. Several members of the Rural Coordination were then present. And five months before the legislative elections, the votes of the Rural Coordination are bound to be attractive.
In Lot-et-Garonne, the son of Serge Bousquet-Cassagne (president of the Lot-et-Garonne chamber of agriculture), has long been a figure in the party of Marine Le Pen. He presented himself during partial legislative elections in 2013 for the RN. In addition, several RN elected officials have already gone through Rural Coordination such as Christophe Barthès (Aude) and Philippe Loiseau (former MEP).
The president of the CR, however, defends herself from any label in the face of certain accusations of proximity to the RN. His union is “apolitical”. An opinion shared by Maxime Colar, regional coordinator of Rural Coordination in the Somme: “we are apolitical, it’s a reality, but so much the better if some people take up our proposals” he declared on BFMTV on February 2, 2024.
Precisely, the National Rally takes up the proposals of the CR. The union has been fighting against the CAP since its beginnings. “We want to live from the fruits of our work, from the prices that the French pay for food, not from bonuses” continues Maxime Colar. A speech close to that of Marine Le Pen during the last presidential campaign. At the time, she intended to “guarantee respectful prices, based on their work”.
Farmers vote “more to the right”, but not for the RN
“Like all French people, I share 80 % of the ideas of the RN” proclaimed Serge Bousquet-Cassagne in January 2022 in the columns of Release. So, even if a “specificity of operators” to vote “more to the right than the rest of the French” exists according to the words of sociologist Bertrand Hervieu on BFMTV, will a plebiscite take place at the polls in June? According to the polls, not necessarily. A Ifop survey for the FNSEA reveals that in 2022, a few weeks before the presidential election, 30 % of French farmers considered voting for Emmanuel Macron, “only” 11 % for Marine Le Pen.
The RN benefits from a solid foothold in rural areas
One component of French political representation should also be kept in mind: National Rally deputies are mainly elected in rural areas. Several elected officials from the RN even gave farmers from the Rural Coordination a tour of the National Assembly on Thursday February 1. Within the union, we defend ourselves against any rapprochement with the RN: “It is the politicians who cling to us and not the other way around” indicates Edouard Legras, president of the Rural Coordination of Loir-et-Cher. If the Rural Coordination is accused of “rolling” for the RN, Jordan Bardella’s party is regularly singled out for trying to “flirt” the CR. A story without end.