(Parçay-Meslay) Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Sunday that he was considering “additional” measures to protect French agriculture, against a backdrop of the threat of a “siege” of Paris by certain farmers who consider the first announcements in favor of the sector insufficient.
Arriving mid-morning at a farm in Parçay-Meslay in Indre-et-Loire, for his second trip to the field in three days, Mr. Attal, during informal discussions, was questioned on multiple aspects of the crisis: drop in income, low pensions, administrative complexity, inflation of standards, foreign competition…
“I want us to clarify things and see what additional measures we can take on these stories of unfair competition,” said the head of government: “it is not normal that you are prevented from using certain products”, while “neighboring countries, Italy or others” can use them.
This visit, during which Mr. Attal reiterated the executive’s support for farmers and promised to soon take new measures, particularly on the subject of fallow land, took place at a time when the situation threatens to become tense again. after an initial lull on the ground.
“From Monday January 29 at 2 p.m. farmers from the departments: Aisne, Aube, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Île-de-France, Marne, Nord, Oise , Pas-de-Calais, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Maritime and Somme, members of the FNSEA network and Young Farmers of the Greater Paris Basin are beginning a siege of the capital for an indefinite period,” promise the two unions , who represent the majority of the profession at the national level.
PHOTO FRED SCHEIBER, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Tires block the highway during a blockade, near Agen, in the southwest of France, Saturday January 27, 2024.
“All the heavy roads leading to the capital will be occupied by farmers,” they add.
But the national authorities of the two organizations have not yet decided on the continuation of the movement at the level of the entire country. “It’s the field that decides,” argues the president of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, in La Tribune on Sunday.
“The Prime Minister only took into account part of the 122 demands that we addressed to him,” he regrets, demanding to “discuss with him, demand by demand.”
Several important roads remained blocked on Sunday, even if according to the gendarmerie, the decline continued compared to Saturday: at 6 a.m., 20 actions were recorded, affecting 17 departments.
The A7 motorway is still cut between Chanas (Isère) and Orange towards Marseille and between Avignon and Chanas towards Lyon, according to the operator Vinci Autoroutes. In the Meuse, the A4 is blocked between Manheulles and Haudiomont, according to the JA.
In Gard, farmers spent the night on the A9 motorway dam, near Nîmes. “We are here and the highway is still cut,” declared Sunday morning the president of the FDSEA30, David Sève. In Normandy, the A13 is cut in both directions near Gaillon (Eure) according to the interdepartmental roads department.
Relay strategy
In Brittany, numerous blockades remain in place on expressways, notably in Caulnes (Ille-et-Vilaine), Carhaix (Finistère) and Lorient (Morbihan).
In Eure-et-Loir, the FDSEA plans “free toll” operations from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the A10 and A11.
PHOTO BENOIT TESSIER, REUTERS ARCHIVES
French farmers use their tractors during a slowdown operation near Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport, Saturday January 27, 2024.
Faced with government announcements intended to calm agricultural anger, reactions diverge between those who believe they have obtained satisfaction and those who think that the account is not there.
Among the first, Joël Tournier, one of the spokespersons for the movement in Carbonne (Haute-Garonne), with the breeder Jérôme Bayle: “We were heard, we had some answers” even if “everything will not be perfect straight away,” he judges to explain the decision to lift the emblematic barrier on the A64 on Saturday.
Regarding a possible “blockade” of Paris on Monday, “I think that there will be a delegation of Meuse tractors which will go up”, possibly “a little later in the week”, underlines Mr. Douxdoux, of the JA of the Meuse.
In the north of the country, “the departments will take turns” and “in turn”, tractors “will take the road to go to Paris”, explains Lucie Delbarre, FDSEA general secretary of Pas-de-Calais, also planning a blockage of the A16 on Monday south of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The Lot-et-Garonne Rural Coordination plans for its part to “go to Paris” to “block” the Rungis market.
To try to extinguish the revolt, the Prime Minister unveiled emergency measures on Friday, including the abandonment of the increase in the tax on non-road diesel (GNR), inflated compensation for breeders whose cattle have been affected by epizootic hemorrhagic disease, heavy sanctions against three agri-food manufacturers not respecting the Egalim laws on prices.
But the president of the Republicans Eric Ciotti judged these responses “ridiculously weak” and pleaded, in an interview with Sunday Newspaperfor a minimum net monthly income for farmers of 1,500 euros.