A climate of high tension. Emmanuel Macron arrived under whistles, Saturday February 24, around 8 a.m., at the Salon de l’agriculture, at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, where dozens of demonstrators forced a gate to enter the premises before time. “Macron resignation” And “give it back”, shouted demonstrators in the aisles of the buildings. The Head of State has breakfast with union representatives, including the president of the FNSEA, behind closed doors. The Agricultural Show plans to open as planned at 9 a.m., but parts will be closed to the public, organizers told AFP. Follow our live stream.
A debate canceled. The Head of State proposed a major debate on Thursday with agricultural unions, agro-industrialists and environmental associations, including Les Soulèvements de la Terre. But the invitation of this collective angered these agricultural unions and the debate was finally canceled.
“Listen to what the president has to say to us.” Just before the arrival of Emmanuel Macron, the president of the majority FNSEA union, Arnaud Rousseau, declared that he wanted “listen to what the president has to say to us”, “in a form of respect for the framework”, even “if it sometimes risks being a little tense”.
The crisis since January 18. In January, motorway blockades were organized for two weeks, finally lifted on February 1. Gabriel Attal made several bursts of announcements on dozens of subjects: pesticides, standards, administrative simplifications, aid to breeders or wine growers, controls in supermarkets against fraud on the French origin of products, new law enshrining the agriculture as a fundamental interest of the nation… Environmental NGOs denounce an ecological decline, particularly regarding pesticides whose use will no longer be measured as before. But this is hardly audible in the face of the existential protests of farmers.