In France, as in Germany, Romania and Poland, farmers’ demonstrations have been increasing in recent weeks. A highway blocked for two days in the South-West of France and a government which fears the conflagration of the agricultural world. A month before the opening of the Agricultural Show and with the European elections approaching, the government is worried that the movement will spread.
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Increased charges, delays in payment of agricultural subsidies, feeling of being crushed by national or European standards, in the name of ecological transition: the reasons for anger are multiple and the protest actions are still localized.
In Occitanie, in the South-West of France, farmers have been blocking the A64 – Toulouse-Bayonne – motorway near Carbonne (Haute-Garonne) since Thursday evening, January 18. On the deserted roads, tractors are lined up by the dozens. Around a hundred people are gathered in the makeshift camp where the smells of smoke from the braziers and diesel from the electric generator mingle, noted an AFP journalist.
Above them, mannequins are hung from the bridge to symbolize their distress.
Discontent is spreading throughout France.
Our farmers are stepping up their actions to say what they have been denouncing for so long.
Inflation, water problem, unfair competition, transmission problem…difficulties making a living from their jobs!!These… pic.twitter.com/4uYrKD922N
— Jean Lassalle (@jeanlassalle) January 20, 2024
“ At some point we can’t take it anymore », says Benoît Fourcade, a 50-year-old cereal farmer. “ I put everything fallow ” And ” I’m going to go to the factory » if one day we ban spraying the controversial weedkiller glyphosate, he says. The operator is also grumbling against the gradual increase in the cost of non-road diesel, negotiated between Bercy and the majority union FNSEA in exchange for compensation.
“ The fed up of farmers expressed for months is turning into anger throughout France », Underlined Friday evening on X the president of the FNSEA (majority agricultural union) Arnaud Rousseau.
“ Words are no longer enough. […] Act quickly in Brussels and Paris to restore dignity, income and a future to those who feed », added Arnaud Rousseau, specifying that he was to meet Gabriel Attal on Monday evening.
The fed up of farmers expressed for months is turning into anger throughout France. Words are no longer enough. I will see @GabrielAttal Monday at 6 p.m. in Matignon. Act quickly in Brussels and Paris to restore dignity, income and a future to those who feed @FNSEA
— Arnaud Rousseau (@rousseautrocy) January 19, 2024
On Europe 1 on Saturday, the president of Young Farmers Arnaud Gaillot asked “ that we ease the constraints » on agriculture, particularly on the environmental level.
The government is concerned to see angry demonstrations by farmers gaining momentum a month before the opening of the Agricultural Show, which is being held in Paris from February 24 to March 3, and as the elections approach. European.
The government and the RN are arguing over the defense of farmers
Traveling to the Rhône to meet the French, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal declared on Saturday that he wanted “ guarantee farmers that they can make a living from their work », faced with the anger of the latter who protest against the precariousness of their activity. Referring to agriculture as a “ chance ” and an “ pride » for France, he notably promised to “ Make life easier » of farmers by reducing “ paperwork “. He also recalled that the government would soon present a bill to promote succession in agriculture. “ What we need is to remove all the obstacles that prevent (young people) today from settling down and to facilitate transmission “, he indicated. The head of government also indicated that he would receive representatives of the FNSEA and the president of Young Farmers on Monday in Matignon.
Almost at the same time, the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, head of the list in the European elections of June 9, was on the wine-growing lands of Médoc, a region located in the Gironde department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. In Queyrac, he denounced “ Macron’s Europe » who wants, according to him, “the death of our agriculture” put into competition “ with agricultural products that come from the ends of the world, which do not respect any of the ever harsher and ever heavier standards that are imposed on French farmers “.
A young person who wants to become a farmer is part of the lineage of those who made our country.
To perpetuate the profession and renew generations, we want to exempt the transfer of agricultural holdings from inheritance tax. We must loosen the fiscal stranglehold! pic.twitter.com/xE8vCErq6b
— Jordan Bardella (@J_Bardella) January 20, 2024
While the Prime Minister was in the Rhône and the Minister of the Economy in the Marne, the Minister of Agriculture was sent to the Cher where he visited a dairy farm and met agricultural officials.
Marc Fesneau estimated, to AFP, that the RN was looking for “ to blow on the embers of anger and despair of farmers “. “ But this is just electoral opportunism for the European elections “, according to him.
Former breeder and ex-Renaissance MP Jean-Baptiste Moreau expressed concern to AFP: “ There’s something that’s been boiling for a long time at the base » and who according to him could “ end in violence “.
In France, as in Germany, Romania and Poland, farmers’ demonstrations have been increasing in recent weeks. They intend to express their exasperation in the face of growing precariousness.
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