The FNSEA is calling for the blockages to be lifted, but ensures that it will continue the movement with the prefectures and wait for concrete measures, otherwise it promises to “set the table again”. Other unions are calling for the blockades to be maintained.
11:03 – Update on the reopening of the roads
Vinci Autoroutes announced in its latest traffic report that several motorways in its network are reopening to traffic. These are the A11, the A81, the A8, the A62, the A68, the A89 and the A87. Vinci nevertheless announced that the A7, A9, A10, A20, A54 and A71 remain disrupted. The lifting of roadblocks also continues. According to Le Monde, the A4 and A5 roadblocks in Seine-et-Marne have been lifted. West of Nantes, the blockage of the Cheviré bridge has also ended. In Yvelines, the number of demonstrators still present blocking the N12 is decreasing sharply. The media also indicates that the A9 blockade has ended but the prefecture announced that traffic had not yet resumed due to cleaning and safety operations which must be carried out today.
10:40 – The Drôme prefecture plans a partial reopening of the A7
In a press release, the prefect of Drôme, Thierry Devimeux, announced that “all the fixing points are in the process of being unblocked with the exception of that of Albon on the A7 motorway”. He also added that a “partial reopening of the A7 motorway is planned in the coming hours from Vaucluse to Tain-l’Hermitage, in both directions of traffic”. The prefect also declared that the A49 should be accessible again fairly quickly.
10:34 – The government spokesperson justifies the suspension of the Ecophyto plan
While the suspension of the Ecophyto plan is strongly criticized by ecologists and environmental NGOs for the impact it could have on the environment and on the farmers themselves, government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot said she was “surprised to hear this little music”, on France Info this Friday. She also added that the government “is currently working on the Ecophyto 2030 plan” but wishes to “sit for another month to ensure that it is perfectly understood, as part of support and not as a punishment”.
Prisca Thevenot also defended the government’s position of “getting out of the punitive ecology”, she indeed declared: “We must get out of the punitive ecology to be in an ecology of solutions”. And the spokesperson clarified that “the first to want to put an end to these products, because they are the first victims, are the farmers themselves”.
10:24 – “The account is still not there” according to Clémentine Autain
La France insoumise MP Clémentine Autain believes that “the account is still not there” in the government’s latest announcements. Invited to France Info this Friday she declared that “the main thing is not there, I was expecting floor prices, which allows farmers and peasants to live from their work, and a firm commitment to stopping free trade treaties” . In his announcements, Gabriel Attal indicated the suspension of the Ecophyto plan which provides for a reduction in the use of pesticides, but for Clémentine Autain this measure is “total madness on an ecological level”. According to her, this measure responds more “to the logic of the FNSEA, but not to the interest of the majority of farmers and certainly not to the interest of the French for their health”. The MP nevertheless conceded that “there are elements that go in the right direction” among the government’s announcements.
10:10 – Marc Fesneau: “The farmers have not given us a discharge for eternity”
“The anger is not behind us” assured the president of the FNSEA this Friday morning, a word heard by the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau. “The most visible moment of the crisis” is “behind us” but there remain “subjects to be addressed” declared the minister on CNews adding that “the farmers have not given us a discharge for eternity”. According to him, “we need to produce other simplifications, we are having European debates, there will be legislative texts”.
09:55 – Blockages lifted and improvement on the A7
On theA7 motorway the situation is improving. In the direction of Marseille, entry is possible again at Bollène, at exit no. 19 which had been blocked for several days and where an accident between trucks took place this Friday morning. The A7 also sees several blockages lifted in the Drôme, notably towards Donzères, Montélimar or Loriol-sur-Drôme, but the blockade of Saint-Rambert-d’Albon is still in progress, held by non-union farmers.
09:40 – Marc Fesneau goes to Hérault this afternoon
The Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau is going to a wine estate this Friday, at 3 p.m., in Hérault. On site, he must interact with agricultural representatives before going to the Gard prefecture, in Nîmes, around 7:30 p.m.
09:31 – Six purchasing centers blocked by the Peasant Confederation
Six purchasing centers remain blocked this Friday in France, notably in Loire-Atlantique, Charente, Isère and Vaucluse, said the spokesperson for the Peasant Confederation, Laurence Marandola, on BFMTV. The trade unionist says she wants to continue to block “places where price problems are expressed”.
09:15 – “We don’t use them for pleasure”: Arnaud Rousseau responds to criticism of pesticides
The announcement of the suspension of the Ecophyto plan provoked strong reactions and aroused the anger of environmentalists. Faced with criticism, the president of the FNSEA Arnaud Rousseau assures BFMTV/RMC in the name of farmers: “we don’t use pesticides for pleasure”. “What interests us is to see how we will evolve. We hear the societal expectations on pesticides, but I would like to point out that there are natural and synthetic pesticides” he declared, recalling the interest of products on farms: “We need a certain number of active ingredients so that an attacked plant can defend itself”. Arnaud Rousseau indicates that he is not opposed to the reduction of pesticides, but considers this objective impossible as long as there are no alternatives and above all he denounces a double standard between France and the importing countries: “This What I don’t want is for people to say that it’s not possible in France, and for it to be done elsewhere.”
08:46 – The FNSEA promises to “set the table again” in the absence of concrete measures
The president of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, ensures BFMTV/RMC that the farmers’ movement is not over and that if the measures prove to be a “flash in the pan”, the farmers will “put the cover back on”. He explains that from next week, farmers and unions will “get back to work to make the “simplification” promised by the government credible and tangible on farms.
08:40 – The pause of Ecophyto does not go over well with environmentalists
The national secretary of EELV regrets the pausing of the Ecophyto plan which aims to reduce the use of pesticides. “For 15 years we have been promised a reduction in the use of pesticides and it is not happening” she lamented on France 2 going so far as to denounce “15 years late for the health of the French, 15 years late for biodiversity”. Marine Tondelier also pointed the finger at industrialists like Lactalis and its fortune of “43 billion euros” or “what a cattle breeder would earn in 2.5 million years” according to her calculation, before calling for a better value sharing.
08:25 – What blockages will be maintained this Friday?
A few dozen blockages are still in place on French roads this Friday. The major mobilizations remain those organized around Paris, although some blockades will be lifted such as on the A6 or part of the A1. In Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes the A7 is still largely blocked and towards Aix-en-Provence the mobilization continues on the A51.
08:07 – Farmers are waiting for something concrete before the Agricultural Show
If the farmers leave the dams, for the most part, they remain determined to continue the movement differently if necessary. Many of them are recalling the deadline for the Agricultural Show, which is due to begin on February 24, and many are warning of a possible mobilization on the sidelines of the event if none of the announced measures have been put in place. here there.
07:53 – The A6 and the A1 soon to be freed by farmers
Farmers have decided to follow the FNSEA’s call and lift the blockages on the A6, in Essonne, and the A1, between Oise and Val-d’Oise. On the first, the lifting of the blockade is expected by 10 a.m. On the second, the departure is “imminent” according to the France 2 journalists present on site.
07:45 – Farmer blockades gradually lifted
The first farmers’ blockades were lifted on Thursday evening, a few hours after Gabriel Attal’s announcements and calls from the FNSEA and Young Farmers to transform the movement. Others should follow in the coming hours this Friday morning, or even at midday. Certain mobilizations, including blockages, must however be maintained, this is the case on the A7 towards Lyon, the A51 in the south-east or even some blockages near Paris.