The announced blockade of Paris has started, despite the announcements of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal this Friday.
They obtained the abandonment of an increase in taxes on tractor fuel, first simplification measures, the promise of a tightening of the screws on agri-food manufacturers, but the farmers want more: some on pesticides, all on denunciation of free trade agreements or the guarantee of a decent income.
PARIS HEADQUARTERS!
🚨🚨🚨@FNSEA #agirsouspression #OnMarcheSurLaTete pic.twitter.com/k8X3T673OI
— FNSEA Grand Bassin Parisien (@FnseaGBP) January 27, 2024
Le Parisien takes stock of the state of the negotiations, while Gabriel Attal admitted having “not yet responded to everything”.
This Monday, the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau once again promised announcements in the coming days.
What farmers are still asking for
On non-road diesel (GNR), Rural Coordination (CR), the 2nd agricultural union, is calling for the abandonment of all taxes.
The CR would also like more details on emergency funds and regrets that avian flu has not been addressed.
“What exactly is the government committing to?
», summarized the president of the CR, Véronique Le Floc’h.
On free trade agreements, all the major unions want the government to commit more to avoid “unfair competition”.
Imported products must be subject to the same standards as French products, argues the boss of the FNSEA, which with the Young Farmers forms the first union in the sector.
Arnaud Rousseau regularly mentions the agreement under discussion with Mercosur but also with Ukraine, which benefits from the suspension of customs duties on certain agricultural products since 2022. Véronique Le Floc'h invokes an "agricultural exception", demanding not to no longer sacrifice agriculture in exchange for progress in other economic sectors.
Also read Blockade of Paris by farmers: should we fear a food shortage?
The Peasant Confederation, the 3rd agricultural union and classified on the left, demands that France be strongly involved in stopping the negotiations on Mercosur.
The Peasant Confederation would also like the Egalim laws to be not only more controlled but also strengthened: for its general secretary Véronique Marchesseau, there needs to be “public arbitration” in the negotiations to ensure that farmers do not sell below their “price of returns” (production cost + remuneration).
Likewise, Arnaud Rousseau called this Monday on RTL to go further.
#Egalim: "Heavy sanctions for companies that do not respect the law? They are provided for within the framework of the law, we have to go there"@rousseautrocy, president of the FNSEA, guest of @amandine_begot in #RTLMatin pic.twitter .com/cWthdEN7vz
— RTL France (@RTLFrance) January 29, 2024
To facilitate the installation of new farmers, the subject of a law in preparation, the Rural Coordination is calling in particular for the elimination of inheritance taxes.
The CR also calls for an increase in agricultural pensions, while the FNSEA regrets that a report on the subject planned for a long time has still not been published.
Outstanding topics
Certain subjects have been little or not addressed by the State.
The government must “change its software”, in particular by saying it will give up producing less, as implied by the “Green Pact” decided in Brussels, Arnaud Rousseau argued on Monday.
He also pleads for the government to renounce any “over-transposition”, that is to say the application in France of regulatory measures stricter than those requested by Brussels, in particular on pesticides.
Going further, Rural Coordination demands that France “obtain the immediate renegotiation of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy)”, which conditions the payment of aid to certain environmental standards, indicated Véronique Le Floc'h.
Also read: Anger of farmers: European Union, State… who sets the rules?
The obligation to devote 4% of arable land to fallow or to agroecological infrastructure (hedges, ditches, ponds) is criticized by the FNSEA like the CR.
On this subject, the Confédération paysanne believes, conversely, that it is “total demagoguery to make environmental standards the scapegoat for agricultural malaise”, indicates Véronique Marchesseau, believing that these standards “are not harmful” but “ protect us.”
What the farmers got
But the farmers have already achieved some of their demands.
On GNR, the government also promised that farmers would benefit from the tax advantage available to them upon delivery, and will no longer have to request reimbursement after the fact.
Likewise, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has committed to ten immediate “administrative simplification” measures, for example to accelerate procedures for the cleaning of waterways, the construction of livestock buildings or storage projects. water for example.
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To guarantee compliance with the Egalim laws, which aim to protect farmers' income, the government plans to increase controls and should impose “heavy sanctions” against three unnamed companies.
Additional aid will be released for farms affected by MHE bovine disease (50 million euros), for the organic sector (50 million), for Breton farms affected by storm Ciaran and for viticulture.
Gabriel Attal recalled France's opposition to any free trade agreement with the Latin American bloc Mercosur.