This was to be a measure of “last resort”. However, this Thursday, January 25, the Departmental Federation of Agricultural Operators’ Unions (FDSEA) and the Young Farmers (JA) of Ile de France called for a blockade of the capital on Friday. The objective? Put maximum pressure on the executive, which must present its first responses to the anger of the agricultural sector during the day.
In a joint press release, the two unions asked their members to gather “on the main roads around the capital”. According to our colleagues from France Bleu, the actions planned from 2 p.m. to midnight should take the form of snail operations and filter dams. The A1, A6, A10-11, A13, and A15 motorways would be particularly affected.
The displayed intransigence of the unions
“It will not be around fifteen tractors like Thursday morning on the N12,” warns a representative of the FDSEA. An announcement that runs counter to the declarations of the president of the JA Arnaud Gaillot, who affirmed this Thursday afternoon from a dam in the Yonne that the blockade of Paris should intervene as a “last resort”.
“The ball is in the government’s court”, which is responsible “for avoiding a paralysis of the country”, underlined Arnaud Gaillot, the day after the presentation of the grievances of the agricultural world, while farmers are increasing their actions and blockages to make themselves heard.
140 demands on which the bosses of the agricultural unions intend to be intransigent. “We wanted to measure the degree of determination that we felt very strongly and I can tell you that the determination is total. They all tell us ‘Don’t back down'”, argued the boss of the FNSEA Arnaud Rousseau.
Risks of overflow
Faced with calls to block the capital, public authorities fear a conflagration, and do not exclude the risk of excesses. “The more they let things get stuck, the more the risk will exist,” warned Arnaud Gaillot, while condemning the “unacceptable things” that happened in Agen, where slurry was dumped in front of the prefecture and in front of supermarkets.
The head of the JA also referred to Prime Minister Gabriel Attal the timing of the current blockages, the possible cessation of which will be decided “on the ground” depending on the measures to be announced by the government on Friday. “It’s the terrain that decides.” And Arnaud Rousseau warns: “The wait is enormous. Nobody has any interest in disappointment.”