It only took a few minutes for the members of the peasant confederation to block the avenue du Docteur Gley (20th century) and invade the premises of Pôle emploi.
From 11:30 am, Straw bales, garbage cans and furniture of all kinds blocked the artery, preventing all vehicles from passing.
About 250 farmers from the 4 corners of France gathered to express their dissatisfaction following the major French orientations of the future CAP announced last Friday by the Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie.
The place was not chosen at random, this takeover of Pôle emploi is symbolic, "with the disappearance of the profession of peasants, we want to show that if nothing is done, this is where we will end. », Asserts Nicolas Girod, spokesperson for the confederation.
Angry peasants
They all have the same demands: "that there is aid is good, but it must be more fair and equitable."
“In fact, they believe that the new measures continue to favor large agronomic structures to the detriment of small farms.
They are calling for a more equitable distribution of subsidies so as not to abandon the peasants.
"Every year since 1988, 15,000 peasant jobs have disappeared, we are waiting for a change in government policy which once again has not been carried out", protests Laurence Marandola, head of the PAC commission, active member of the peasant confederation in Ariège. .
"An unequal CAP"
According to figures, less than 2% of aid granted by the CAP goes to small farms.
“It's always the same people who stuff themselves,” says Nicolas Girod.
In France, CAP subsidies are correlated with the number of hectares.
The denser the farm, the higher the subsidies.
"Some receive up to 400,000 euros in subsidies when others barely have 200, this is not normal, we no longer want financial support to be linked to the size of the farms", exclaims a farmer from Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) to demonstrate.
The final objective of this Parisian action?
An interview with President Emmanuel Macron in order to clearly express to him that the status quo is incompatible with the social and environmental emergency, but without this meeting, “we will not move from here” concludes Nicolas Girod.