President Emmanuel Macron, who will inaugurate the Salon de l'Agriculture on Saturday, affirmed that he "will not tolerate (t) any violence against farmers ", in an interview in the regional daily press (PQR), put in line Thursday 20 February.
" Today we feel a strong tension in society and we must both protect farmers from the stigma they face and successfully transform the agricultural model, " said Macron in several PQR newspapers. (Ouest France, La Voix du Nord, the EBRA group ...). “ Tensions are felt on animal husbandry and animal welfare, on agriculture and the use of pesticides. I will not tolerate any violence against farmers, ”he said.
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Asked about glyphosate, whose ban in 2021 worries the agricultural world, the Head of State reaffirmed that this objective " will not be tenable on all farms ". He had already declared in January 2019 that France would not be able to do without " 100% " of glyphosate in three years.
On this subject, “ I have always indicated that we would not leave farmers without solutions. The government has contacted ANSES and INRA to identify viable alternatives and to organize an exit from glyphosate on objective bases , ”he recalled. He also announced aid of 25 million euros to compensate for part of the crop losses linked to the establishment of " no-treatment zones " with pesticides.
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The president also said that the Food Law, which promises to pay farmers according to their production costs, "is starting to have an effect. The key to all of this is to build indicators and then organize dialogue in the sector. It also presupposes that all the actors in the chain are responsible. I salute Lidl for example, who contracts, gives price and visibility ”. “ We have multiplied the checks. Result: 4 million euros in fines were imposed on distributors for non-compliance with the rules. We have assigned Leclerc. The great difficulty we encounter is those who try to circumvent the law with their central purchasing offices in Belgium or elsewhere. They are not tender, me either, that's good, "he said.
Asked about the customs duties which are likely to increase after Brexit, he warned: " We cannot accept a model where Great Britain decides to diverge on the regulatory level, to make social and environmental dumping. I want to tell our fishermen that I will fight for them. If we do not get the same access as we do today, we will seek compensation. I will not let our fishermen be affected by the British vote which they can do nothing about . ”
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