why has Emmanuel Macron remained rather silent since the start of the crisis?

Emmanuel Macron asked the government to continue working on the issue of mobilizing farmers but remains distant from the subject.

Blockades and mobilizations of farmers continue in France and are gaining momentum. One of the main unions, the FNSEA, promises other mobilizations if the government’s responses are slow to come. The government promises announcements for the weekend.

“The Agricultural Nation is calling on us, we have heard it and we will continue to respond” : this is the message at the end of the Council of Ministers, Wednesday January 24. For announcements, see you most likely on Friday with a trip from Gabriel Attal. Until then, Matignon will continue his consultations. “Listen to better decide, that’s the method”say those close to him.

“The announcements will arrive in the coming days”

Since the start of the week, the Prime Minister has received the FNSEA, Young Farmers, Rural Coordination, and the Peasant Confederation. Wednesday at 7 p.m., it will be another union, Modef – the Movement for the Defense of Family Farmers.

The objective is to build a consensus, assures government spokesperson Prisca Thévenot: “Far be it from me to be insolent today, but simply to point out the obvious. There is indeed an urgency to respond, but be careful that this urgency to respond does not become a media injunction. Yes, the discussions are underway, yes the work is well underway and well underway. The announcements will arrive in the coming days, very very soon because we cannot wait. The watchword is that it must not be taboo.”

It is impossible to say, at this stage, what precisely these announcements will be. They will focus on the simplification of standards, probably on non-road diesel – GNR – which is one of the main concerns of farmers. But the difficulty for the government is to fully understand the demands. “We need to find common denominators, the demands are different depending on the territory”, says Emmanuel Macron’s entourage. The government clarified, Wednesday morning, that there is no question of preventing blockages: these demonstrations organized within the legal framework.

Emmanuel Macron asked the prefects to be on the ground

Emmanuel Macron praised the France of common sense, not that of hassle, last week during his press conference. Those around him castigate these administrations which give the impression of working for themselves. He calls again for a shock of simplification. Only a tweet from the Head of State on Tuesday to express his support for the family of the farmer who died during a blockage in Ariège. On Wednesday morning, he asked his government to continue working on this issue.

Beyond that, Emmanuel Macron stays away. Last Friday, he asked the prefects to be on the ground. “He has particular attention to this subject, he has shown consistency for seven years”, says the Elysée, which praises its link with this agricultural sector but refuses to make a comparison with the yellow vest movement! The President of the Republic’s diplomatic and international calendar is busy: India at the end of the week, Sweden next week then a European Council in Brussels, where the President of the Republic requested that the subject of simplification of standards, which concerns farmers, be included on the agenda.