Several foreign trucks were emptied of their load by farmers at roadblocks during the night of Thursday January 25 to Friday January 26.
On the national 7, near Montélimar (Drôme), demonstrators emptied
“with the greatest courtesy”
trucks, mostly Spanish, Moroccan or Bulgarian, of
“everything that was foreign”
, explained Sylvie, a wine grower, on BFMTV.
“A lot went to the Restos du coeur
,” she also assured.
“We should not import food that we can produce at home!”
“
Nine trucks registered abroad were emptied by demonstrators on the A709 near St Jean-de-Védas on Friday
,” the Hérault prefecture also detailed to AFP.
Similar filtering has been put in place at the Spanish border or in Côtes-d'Armor.
Around 10,000 Spanish trucks cross the French border every day: either they deliver to France, or they are forced to cross there to go to Germany or elsewhere.
“The French state will have to reimburse them”
“We do not want violence, no criminal acts, but the anger which is expressed when we empty trucks must be heard quickly
,” underlined the president of the FNSEA Arnaud Rousseau, Thursday evening on BFMTV.
Some transporters are already suffering from
“big delays”
and are starting to delay truck departures, for agricultural products but also in textiles or automobiles, explains Ramón Valdivia, vice-president of the Spanish association of road transporters (Astic) .
“The situation has gotten worse in recent days”
with the increase in blockages, he notes.
And the Spaniard confirmed that some trucks were emptied and that the French State will have to reimburse them, because insurance does not cover these
“cases of force majeure”
, according to him.
Some drivers are
“very nervous”
with their limited driving times, and find themselves sleeping in their cabins on the side of the road, emphasizes Ramón Valdivia.
More broadly, the blocking of dozens of motorways on Friday, across the whole of France, disrupted the transport of goods, throwing thousands of trucks onto secondary roads.
Delivery delays
Anger is brewing in several European countries, with various demands in the face of soaring fuel prices, competition from Ukrainian goods and European constraints.
Faced with these actions, the International Road Transport Union (IRU), based in Brussels, asked the European Commission on Thursday
“to intervene and require Member States to keep essential trade corridors open, and to 'they ensure the free movement of goods'
.
According to Raluca Marian, director of advocacy at the IRU,
“the situation is very worrying”
.
“Blockages and disruptions linked to farmers' protests risk causing delays in deliveries [...].
Additionally, with a lack of safe parking spaces across Europe, drivers have nowhere to go, putting themselves at risk while just doing their job.”
When contacted, certain representatives of the sector in France did not wish to speak out so as not to
“add fuel to the fire”
.
But they now meet in a crisis unit twice a day with the Interior Ministry, according to a government source.
According to Olivier Poncelet, from the Union of Transport & Logistics Companies of France (Union TLF),
“the situation is unequal depending on the territories and is highly evolving but for certain companies, the impact can be significant and we have requests for partial activity which lifts us up
.
“We recognize the importance of the demands of farmers, who also play a crucial role in our economy and our food
,” underlines Olivier Poncelet.
“Transporters, essential to our daily lives, must nevertheless be able to continue their activity in the best conditions
. ”
A project to waive driving and rest times is currently being examined, according to the TLF Union.
This includes allowing stranded drivers to return home.