the FNSEA puts the pressure back on, the government on its guard

Several meetings are scheduled between the executive and the unions, who threaten to take new actions if the government’s response is not fast enough.

The farmers are once again increasing the pressure and the executive is on the lookout. The FNSEA and the Young Farmers are expected on Tuesday February 13, at 4:30 p.m., in Matignon, officially to take stock of concrete progress, less than two weeks after the government’s announcements. Monday morning on franceinfo, Arnaud Rousseau, president of the FNSEA, nevertheless urged the executive to speed up the tempo or risk resuming blockages. On Wednesday, it is Emmanuel Macron who will take the file in hand, receiving for the first time since the start of the crisis the agricultural unions, the Peasant Confederation and the Rural Coordination. Because the executive has an obsession: to prevent anger from resuming again.

Certainly the tractors have returned to their farms, but they can very well turn around. Farmers are ready to block highways or dump their cargo in front of prefectures. The unions, notably the FNSEA, are mounting pressure and bidding wars a few days before the Agricultural Show, which will begin on February 24. Because farmers want results to come faster.

Working meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture

“It’s a normal pressure game, a role-playing game”, puts an advisor into perspective, recalling that 400 million euros have indeed been put on the table and that the postponed agricultural orientation bill will be presented to the Council of Ministers before the end of February. To work on it, all the majority deputies were invited to the Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday morning. The entourage of the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau and his delegate minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher are working hard to point out that the announcements will eventually bear fruit, that “things are moving forward”.

On the immediate simplification measures promised by Gabriel Attal, Emmanuel Macron asked the prefects to give him feedback before the unions were received at the Elysée. On the ecophyto level, environmental NGOs slammed the door on a meeting of the steering committee and continued on Monday. The executive therefore faces a double pressure: to keep its commitments (in this case, the 50% reduction in the use of pesticides by 2030) and at the same time preserve social peace with farmers, at the same time risks giving the impression that he is sacrificing one for the benefit of the other.

“Beware of the backlash”

Are these consultations at the Élysée, Wednesday and next week, a sign that Emmanuel Macron is taking the matter back in hand? “Usual appointment”, minimizes the president’s entourage. The reality is more nuanced. The head of state was rather spared from the crisis, at a safe distance, at the cost of an impeccable distribution of roles. He asked the prefects to mobilize, negotiated from Brussels on the European aspect (fallow land, the Mercosur free trade treaty and competition from products imported from Ukraine), when Gabriel Attal managed his first political crisis. The president only stepped out again last week. A trip on the sly, without microphone, without camera, on a farm in Doubs. “The president is our last cartridge”rejoices an impatient MP.

The first unions expected at the Élysée on Wednesday are considered the hardest, the Peasant Confederation, marked on the left, and the Rural Coordination, close to the National Rally. Next week, it will be the turn of the FNSEA and the Young Farmers. “We must not forget that this movement did not start from the FNSEA but from the grassroots”, explains an advisor. For Emmanuel Macron, it is no longer possible to hide. “Beware of the backlash”, warns one of his allies. On February 24, the president plans to inaugurate, like every year, the Agricultural Show. He is preparing for a real marathon in the aisles but wants to avoid the throwing of eggs, the whistles or the boos – in short, the failed photo.