Information to remember
Farmers' tractors are approaching Paris, Lyon and the Rungis wholesale market on Wednesday, despite the executive's attempts to dispel peasant unease and convince the demonstrators to stop their mobilization.
According to our information, the first tractors arrived at one of the gates of the Rungis market mid-morning and 18 people were arrested nearby for “obstructing traffic”.
CRS reinforcements were being deployed around the enormous wholesale food market that supplies Paris.
Read also Follow the farmers' protests live this Wednesday
In total, there were “more than 100 blocking points” and 10,000 demonstrators in France on Wednesday, estimated the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on France 2. “They are not attacking the forces of the order, they do not enter Rungis, they do not enter Parisian airports, not in Paris.
But if they ever had to do it, obviously I repeat, we would not let it happen,” he said.
“The objective is to dialogue to provide a certain number of concrete answers, and not find ourselves in a situation of blockade,” added the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau, who is due to visit Wednesday afternoon in Brussels “for a series of talks aimed at accelerating the treatment of European emergencies”.
What to also remember
Crimes and misdemeanors on the rise in 2023.
The majority of crimes and misdemeanors increased in 2023, continuing at a lower rate the increase already recorded in 2022, in particular assault and battery (+ 7%) and rape and attempts rapes (+ 10%), according to the results of the statistical service of the Ministry of the Interior (SSMSI).
Homicides pass the symbolic mark of 1,000 victims (1,010, + 5%) and attempted homicides explode (4,055, + 13%).
The increase in sexual violence (+ 8%) continues and reflects, according to the SSMSI, a greater propensity of victims to file complaints in the wake of the Weinstein affair at the end of 2017 and the #MeToo movement to free speech.
80 million euros in aid for wine growers.
Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau announced on Wednesday that the government was putting an additional 80 million euros on the table to support “all wine regions which are in crisis”.
In the midst of an agricultural crisis, the minister explained on Sud Radio that the State would cover “loan interest for the year 2024” to relieve the cash flow of winegrowers in difficulty.
The envelope of 80 million euros should make it possible “to cover the hazards encountered by a certain number of regions (…) it covers all the wine-growing regions which are in crisis, obviously”, explained the minister.
Inflation is slowing.
Inflation slowed significantly in France in January, to 3.1% over one year compared to 3.7% in December, according to a first estimate published Wednesday by INSEE.
This drop in inflation would be the result, according to INSEE, of the slowdown in the prices of energy, food and manufactured products over a year, despite the acceleration in the prices of services and tobacco.
Over one month, consumer prices should decrease slightly in January (-0.2% in January compared to December, compared to +0.1% in December).
It concerns you
The main union of primary school teachers (nursery and elementary schools) anticipates a strike rate of 40% for the day of mobilization scheduled for Thursday, it said in a press release.
65% of strikers are expected in Paris, and more than 50% in Val-de-Marne, Drôme, Ardèche and even in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, according to the FSU-SNUipp.
The teachers thus want to issue “a warning to the government”.