After several days of demonstrations and road blockades throughout France, farmers warned this Thursday, January 25, of blocking Paris if the Executive does not take measures that respond to their demands. With tractors arranged in the middle of the roads to cut off traffic, the farmers complain about the import of agricultural products and unfair competition and demand “immediate” aid from the Government. Agrarian protests have also been reported in Germany, Belgium, Spain and Poland.
The anger of French farmers does not subside. After several days of protests, farmers extended blockades and demonstrations throughout France and this Thursday, January 25, they threatened to blockade Paris if the Government does not respond to their demands.
Farmers have at least 77 blockade points in various parts of the country, according to data from the FNSEA, the country's largest federation of farmers' unions.
One of the main blockades was carried out with tractors on the highway that connects Paris with Belgium, one of the most important land routes in France. According to the AFP news agency, which is at that point, the protesters are organizing to spend Thursday night there and point out that by “paralyzing France”, “they may get some answers.”
The FNSEA section in the Ile-de-France region – to which Paris belongs – and the Young Farmers union (JA) called on their members to gather on Friday, January 26 “on the main roads around the capital”, threatening to blockade the metropolis. For now, the national organizations of these same unions have not joined the call.
“The ball is on the Government's side” and it depends on it “that the country does not paralyze,” declared Arnaud Gaillot, president of Young Farmers.
Complaint of unfair competition
The protests took various forms. Expressing their rejection of international competition that they consider unfair, the protesters stopped and emptied foreign trucks, mostly Spanish, Moroccan or Bulgarian, near Montélimar, a city in the southeast of the country. “We want to compete with the same weapons,” the farmers repeated at the different demonstration points.
Other farmers, with a hundred tractors, gathered in Rennes, a city in the northwest. They headed to the regional prefecture equipped with smoke grenades. Accompanied by fishermen from the region, they denounced European regulations, particularly at the environmental level, which, they say, harm them.
“We are fed up because we no longer make a living from our job,” Nathalie Possémé, president of a local section of the Rural Coordination union, declared during the march. “If we want quality food, we have to pay for it,” she insisted.
Elsewhere, mobilizations included riots. Near the city of Béziers, in the south of the country, winegrowers forced the doors of two warehouses of a major wine trade, according to AFP, and a protest banner cried: “Now it's bread or it will be lead.”
A list of 140 “non-negotiable” points
Until now, farmers have managed to attract the attention of public opinion, which, according to polls, supports their demands, through concrete actions such as throwing slurry – remains of vegetables, crops, seeds – in front of government delegations and supermarkets and with road closures.
On Wednesday, the sector's unions presented 140 points to the new Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, ranging from the immediate payment of aid to the relaxation of environmental restrictions. “At the moment, nothing is negotiable,” said Arnaud Gaillot, president of Young Farmers, in reference to the list of demands they have transmitted to the Government.
Pressure is mounting on the French Government to provide solutions to these requests. “Unions run the risk of being overwhelmed if the wait is too long,” warn the intelligence services in a note consulted by AFP, stressing that “the risks of unrest are real.”
The Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, and the heads of Agriculture, Ecological Transition and Economy met on Thursday, January 25, to address the situation. The Government is expected to announce the first measures on Friday in response to farmers' demands.
Calming the protest is key for the country's president, Emmanuel Macron, and the ruling party ahead of the European elections next June, when all polls predict a victory for the extreme right. Both the head of the far-right list, Jordan Bardella, and the leader of the National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, have multiplied their messages of support for farmers in recent days.
“Strategic dialogue” in the European Union
In parallel, the “strategic dialogue” on the future of the primary sector in the European Union began this Thursday and under the initiative of the European Union and to seek solutions to the discontent expressed by farmers in the bloc.
In her opening speech to this dialogue, the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, stated that “finding a consensus and a common vision on the way forward is not an easy task”, but considered that “it is a great opportunity (…) to shape an essential part of the economy of the future”.
Ursula Von der Leyen emphasized that the purpose of this dialogue is to respond to questions such as how to “raise the standard of living of farmers and the attractiveness of rural areas and communities” or to make agriculture more sustainable.
What agri-food in Europe needs is a long-term perspective.
A predictable way forward.
Today, we're launching our strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture.
The time has come to find a new consensus ↓ https://t.co/EeDUmHljI0
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) January 25, 2024
“We all feel that there is a growing division and polarization when it comes to issues related to agriculture,” said the senior European official, adding: “I believe that we can only overcome this often deep polarization through dialogue.”
In recent days, there have not only been demonstrations by French farmers, but protests have been organized in Germany, Belgium, Spain and Poland.
With EFE, AFP and local media
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