Several roads will be affected by farmers’ blockages. The agricultural unions had called for mobilization from Monday, November 18, but the first actions began on Thursday.
Ten months after the last agricultural mobilization, professionals in the sector still do not feel heard. They are also campaigning against the Mercosur trade agreement, which would open the European market to Latin American countries, whose standards are less restrictive, which allows a much lower price. Competition denounced as unfair by French farmers, who are therefore called to mobilization. Agricultural unions, FNSEA and Young Farmers (JA) called for mobilization from Monday, November 18, but certain actions have been taking place since Thursday. This Sunday, November 17, roads risk being blocked.
Blockages in Île-de-France
In Yvelines, nearly 300 farmers from Île-de-France have planned to meet at the end of the afternoon to block the RN118 towards Paris, near Vélizy-Villacoublay. This call is issued by the FNSEA and JA, reports The Parisian. The Yvelines prefecture assures that the processions will arrive from Houdan, Longvilliers, Étampes and Auvernaux, and warns of traffic difficulties on these axes.
Convoys must also leave from Saclay, Les Ulis, Dourdan and Morigny-Champigny. Traffic should be disrupted “from 5 p.m.” on the RN118 in the province-Paris direction, the Essonne prefecture also warns. The access ramps to the N118 on the RD444 will also be closed at Bièvre from 5:30 p.m. Two CRS companies were mobilized to prevent the tractors from advancing towards the Sèvres bridge, towards Paris.
Authorities have called for several roads to be avoided from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. because of convoys en route to Paris. The same call was made for the next day, in the opposite direction, from early morning until 2 p.m. These are the A10 motorway and the N118 from Péage de Longvilliers to Vélizy, the RN20 from Étampes to the junction with the RN104 then with the A10 and the RD74 at Auvernaux, the RD17, the RD117 to the junction with the RD19 near the communes of Brétigny-sur-Orge and Égly. The RN12, the D446 and the D117 from Houdan to Vélizy are also affected, reports BFMTV.
The mobilization intensifies Monday
While the mobilization began Thursday and Friday, with more than fifty radars targeted in Oise, municipal panels covered in Sarthe and “fires of anger” in Haut-Rhin, demonstrations are planned Monday: in Rocroi in the Ardennes, in Arras (Pas-de-Calais) in front of the DDTM (Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea), in Laval (Mayenne), in Bordeaux (Gironde), in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) , in Dijon (Côte-d’Or) or even in Le Havre (Seine-Maritime). On Tuesday, demonstrations are also planned in front of the prefectures of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie regions at the call of Rural Coordination. The Nancy prefecture is also targeted.
As a reminder, the Prime Minister tried, on Friday, November 15, to ease tensions by assuring: “I will do everything I can” and “all the promises made to the farmers who demonstrated at the start of the year will be respected.” A good start for the farmers’ unions, who are now expecting concrete actions from the government.