“We no longer trust the European Commission.” The voice is that of the French farmers, who took to the streets, once again, to protest against the policies of a European Union “disconnected from reality”. They are French, from the Coordination Rurale (Cr) and representatives of the Alsace region. It is not the European demonstration that stormed Brussels on the occasion of the summit of heads of state and government on 1 February, but once again the tractors are besieging the community institutions. This time the seat of the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, where the work of the Chamber is underway.
More than a hundred tractors blocked the road leading to the European Parliament, forcing the suspension of public transport services and the closure of traffic. The reason for the protest is a censored community policy imbued with very French logic. “France has delegated the EU for everything that concerns agricultural policy, and now the European Union is in charge, and Europe is ruining states.” This Europe therefore brings with it all the discomfort of a sector in crisis, ready to make itself felt at the time of the European consultations at the beginning of June. «The statements we hear are linked to the elections. They do propaganda.” The agricultural world, the French one at least, only sees smoke and mirrors in the eyes of the proclamations of these days.
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Among those present, the skepticism is such that among the demonstrators there are those who evoke scenarios of “Frexit”, France's exit from the European Union. «In Europe everyone is striking and demonstrating, except in Switzerland and the United Kingdom», countries that are not part of the European Union, says one of those present, wearing the jacket with their Agriculture & Territoires – Chambre d'agriculture Alsace. The acronyms Cr and Aa (Agricolture Alsace) say «enough!» (ça suffi!), as stated by a sign affixed to one of the tractors placed in front of the headquarters of the European Parliament, armored and protected by barriers and a cordon of police, some of them in riot gear.
The tractors try to make themselves heard with their horns, which resound in the streets and in the surrounding area, in the hope and attempt that they can also be heard inside the European Parliament. The claims are many and different. Trade agreements that penalize national agriculture, sustainability policies that make production more difficult and expensive, and then too many non-harmonized legislation. “If we take organic farming here there are different rules.” In short, “Europe is not united” when it comes to agriculture, complains a protester, intent on warming himself from the fire coming out of lit wood inside a bin placed between the tractors. They want to be heard. Are there meetings planned? Will anyone be received? “Even if they met us they wouldn't care.” Today the protest is more out of a sense of indifference.
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