Emmanuel Macron calls for a “European Egalim” and a “European health and agricultural control force”

“There is a European fight to wage.” At the end of a summit in Brussels (Belgium), Emmanuel Macron called on Thursday February 1 for a series of measures in favor of farmers, including A “Egalim European” to avoid circumvention of French law via European purchasing centers. These structures are in the sights of French farmers, who see them as an additional means for distributors to exert pressure on prices.

The French president also said having asked the European Commission to create a “European health and agricultural control force” to verify that the rules laid down are applied by all members of the EU. “When we have a European rule which is transposed in the same way everywhere among our farmers, it must be controlled in the same way in all countries,” argued Emmanuel Macron. It would also make it possible to verify the application of “mirror clauses”, in order to ensure that imported products respect the same standards as those required of European farmers.

Emmanuel Macron also asked the European Commission to achieve “concrete and tangible simplifications from the end of February” in favor of farmers. The French president also congratulated himself on having ensured that the controversial trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries was not “was concluded in haste as some threatened to do”.