France announced this Thursday new measures to deactivate the incombustible farmers' protests that have been going on for two weeks. and that they extend to other European countries, despite the concessions of the European Commission.
Greater control of the origin of products, aid to the livestock sector and the temporary suspension of a plan to reduce the use of pesticides They are part of the third round of measures with which the French government seeks to calm agrarian anger.
Shortly after the announcement, the FNSEA, the hegemonic union of French farmers, called for the blockades to be lifted that have kept dozens of highways and roads closed to traffic for two weeks.
“The movement does not stop, it is transformed,” said the president of the National Federation of Agricultural Workers' Unions (FNSEA), Arnaud Rousseau, at a press conference, warning that There will be new mobilizations if the announcements made by the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, do not materialize in 15 days. and if they do not come into force in June.
Arnaud Gaillot, head of Young Farmers, a sister organization of the FNSEA, explained that the request to “suspend the blockade and enter a new mode of action” was taken after consulting with the bases in view of the commitments made by Attal.
(Also read: Colombian missing for more than 53 days in Canada found dead: this is known)
Farmers in France participate in a protest called by unions.
Arnaud Gaillot, head of Young Farmers, a sister organization of the FNSEA, explained that the request to “suspend the blockade and enter a new mode of action” had been taken after consulting with the bases in view of the commitments made by Attal .
The unions positively valued the “tangible progress” made this Thursday by the Executive, which complements the promises of last Friday, that farmers considered insufficient, and that in any case must be implemented with emergency measures.
Among them, they mentioned actions to promote the generational replacement of farm workers with automated tax exemptions, or the fight against fraud of products that are presented as being of French origin but are not.
Rousseau pointed out that there are issues that “are not up to par and that will have to be clarified.” These two hegemonic unions supported the position of rejection by Emmanuel Macron's Government of the free trade agreement that the European Union is discussing with Mercosur and urged that Paris maintain it.
But above all, they stressed that they want to see that “food sovereignty” is inscribed in legislation as a priority.
With the deadline of June to see the improvements promised by the French Government materialize, the month in which the elections to the European Parliament will be held, the French agricultural unions also warned that they expect from the EU “strong decisions to protect the community market.”
French farmers at the A4 motorway blocking point in Jossigny, east of Paris.
The truth is that the protests have already surpassed the borders of the second economy of the European Union and have spread to other countries such as Italy.Portugal and Greece, waiting for Spanish farmers to come into play.
In Brussels, thousands of protesters accompanied by “a thousand tractors or agricultural machines” took over several avenues in Brussels, leaving scenes of tension, on the occasion of a summit of the leaders of the 27 EU countries, Belgian police reported.
AFP AND EFE
#France #announces #package #measures #defuse #farmers #protests
