The protest movement continues, and is moving closer to the capital.
The Île-de-France sections of the majority agricultural unions FNSEA and Young Farmers call on Thursday in a press release for the "launch of the blockade of Paris" on Friday, the day when the Prime Minister must make announcements to try to appease the anger of the occupation.
FDSEA Île-de-France and JA Île-de-France ask their members to gather “on the main roads around the capital”, while at the same time, the president of the FNSEA considered such an escalation as a “last resort” .
Farmers' actions have also been moving closer to Paris in recent hours, with a snail operation carried out by tractors on the N12 in Yvelines.
Paris, the @FDSEAIDF and the @JA_IDF are arriving… #paris #iledefrance
Our end will be our hunger #acteursencolere pic.twitter.com/RQzaUmql0N
— Amandine Muret Beguin 🌾 (@AMANDINEBEGUIN) January 25, 2024
Farmers are once again demonstrating their anger throughout France on Thursday to call on the government to respond without delay to their distress, with emergency financial aid but also the reduction of the standards by which they say they are being stifled.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin gave instructions of “great moderation” to the prefects on Wednesday evening, asking them to only involve the police as a “last resort”.
Attal's responses expected this Friday
The FNSEA, the leading agricultural union, demanded on Wednesday evening from the government "immediate responses on remuneration", including emergency aid to "the sectors most in crisis", and, in the longer term, the implementation of a “standards reduction project”.
The president of the MoDem group in the National Assembly, Jean-Paul Mattei, the party of Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau, judged these requests from the FNSEA “fairly reasonable” on Thursday on Radio J.
It is the new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal who will unveil this Friday the executive's responses to this crisis.
The grievances transmitted to the government by agricultural unions represent “a package on which we will not compromise”, declared this Thursday the president of the FNSEA Arnaud Rousseau from a dam in the Yonne.
“For the moment, nothing is negotiable,” added Arnaud Gaillot, the president of Jeunes Agriculteurs who accompanied him, specifying that the two organizations will consult the “field” to see if the government's response, expected on Friday, is “acceptable”.
“The ball is in the court of the government”, which is responsible “for avoiding a paralysis of the country”, added Arnaud Gaillot.
Arnaud Rousseau, president of the FNSEA: “We will not create a punitive environment” pic.twitter.com/A0Z4BLl8d5
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) January 25, 2024
“Generally fed up”, “exasperation”, “agriculture is going badly”, “pessimism”: part of the south-west last week, the farmers' revolt gained momentum with the call of the Peasant Confederation, third farmers' union and classified on the left, to the mobilization.
In addition to the FNSEA and the Rural Coordination, to which she nevertheless opposes on many subjects.
The CGT also called on its members this Thursday to join the movement.
Also read “Show that we are in support”: farmers’ anger rises, the government seeks answers
Farmers and breeders share the same unease about their future, torn between the desire to produce and the need to reduce the impact on biodiversity and the climate, against a backdrop of very diverse demands: margins for mass distribution, fallow land, pesticides, environmental standards, administrative authorizations, diesel prices, etc. Immediate announcements are possible, such as a rebate on tractor fuel.
MEPs recommended in a report on Wednesday “the establishment of floor prices for agricultural products”.