The watchword: appeasement. After weeks of crisis, numerous blockages on the roads and muscular exchanges between the government and farmers, the executive unveiled a series of 14 measures this Saturday. These are added to the 67 already presented by the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, on January 26.
Thus, the government, saying it is “anxious to respond to the concerns expressed by farmers and to promote constructive dialogue” in a statementwishes to “strengthen its commitment to the agricultural sector, an essential pillar of our economy and our food sovereignty”.
Taking up one of the commitments of the Head of State, Emmanuel Macron, who had promised the implementation of a “cash flow plan” during the inauguration of the Agricultural Show in February, the executive announced the development of financial support measures “thanks to the public investment bank” (BPI), to the tune of at least 100 million euros.
Cash loans, of up to 75,000 euros, will be granted directly to farmers. In addition, the BPI will be able to provide a guarantee for a loan in a commercial bank of up to 200,000 euros for operators “going through difficulties”, we read in the government press release. For the most indebted farmers, following a health or climatic disaster, the Prime Minister is granting partial tax exemption.
Agricultural pension reform
Among these measures is also the presentation, “at the beginning of May”, of the final version of the Ecophyto 2030 plan for reducing pesticides, put on hold due to the agricultural crisis. This plan will take up the executive’s commitments to be based on a European indicator and no longer the French one used until now.
The government has also planned a list of 100 agricultural hydraulics, water storage or irrigation projects, “compatible with sustainable management of the resource, the work of which will be finalized by the end of the year”.
In the longer term, Matignon plans to launch a “support plan” for farmers in three departments particularly affected by climatic hazards – drought, frost and floods: Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude and Hérault. This plan will be allocated 50 million euros and will ensure the development of local sectors in these territories.
The government also confirms that the reform of agricultural pensions, the technical implementation of which was debated, will apply in 2026 “by taking into account the last 25 years”.
“A return to common sense demanded by farmers”
This new series of measures, the main agricultural unions – the FNSEA and the Young Farmers (JA) – recognize a “progress”, obtained “thanks to the actions of farmers in France and in Europe”. With the simplification of the CAP, obtained on Thursday April 25 in the European Parliament, these are “all signs which mark a return to common sense requested by farmers throughout the European Union and will encourage the renewal of generations”, welcome the unions in a joint press release, published this Saturday.
Beyond these measures, the FNSEA and JA “wish that the President of the Republic will quickly receive the agricultural world”. A first meeting planned for March with Emmanuel Macron had been postponed. The Elysée had announced that the head of state would receive the unions “when all the work carried out by the government allows the president to conclude the sequence”.
From now on, a meeting between Emmanuel Macron and farmers will ensure “the credibility of political decision-makers with farmers”, insist their representatives.