A man walks near the Porte de Chevilly-Larue of the Rungis market with a sign.
We can read:
“For the increase in the number of hours of driving schools!”
The police look at him with amusement.
“Aren’t we talking about that here?”
, the man asks them blandly, to the laughter of the few people present.
The atmosphere was completely different on Sunday evening: the joint arrival of two armored vehicles from the gendarmerie caused a reaction on social networks.
At the call of the FNSEA and the Young Farmers union, hundreds of tractors began to converge on Paris this Monday and block sections of the highway in order to put the capital in a
“state of siege”
.
The Minister of the Interior immediately reacted on Sunday evening to the announcement of this large-scale movement: there was no question of taking the food basket of the entire Île-de-France hostage.
“They’re not going to keep crashing!”
This Monday, the atmosphere was much more relaxed at the various entry points to the largest wholesale market in the world (one million square meters filled with fresh produce), located south of Paris.
Already, because with a departure Monday morning of the tractors from Agen, at a cruising speed oscillating between 40 and 50 kilometers per hour, and nearly 650 kilometers to travel, the demonstrators will not be in Val-de-Marne before the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
Then, because the controls put in place by the police were brief and fluid, without the presence of demonstrators.
The most notable movement of the day was ultimately the arrival of ten CRS vans shortly before noon.
The situation was calm this Monday in Rungis.
Maxime Dubernet / Le Figaro
The ballet of vans and food heavy goods vehicles was just interrupted by the arrival of a cyclist, obviously not up to date with current events and who had to turn back due to the strengthening of security in the market of interest national (MIN).
Rungis is a French flagship: Emmanuel Macron made his first speech to the agricultural world there, in October 2017, three million tonnes of goods passed through the market for a turnover of 10 billion euros in 2022, and Many establishments in the Ile-de-France region would find themselves in difficulty if no vehicles could circulate within the premises.
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However, among the professionals in the sector interviewed, one word comes up repeatedly:
“support”
.
Other terms of the same ilk:
“they are right”
,
“we understand them”
,
“they must go to the end”
.
According to an Odoxa-Backbone Consulting survey for
Le Figaro
, 89% of French people support the peasant protest movement.
You just have to listen to be convinced.
“They have been suffering for years
,” says Bernard,
in his SUV.
They’re not going to keep crashing!”
Bastien, truck driver, says no less.
He sees his farmer cousin
“spending his days dealing with paperwork even though he loves his sheep”
.
“They are right to make their demands
,” says Johan, who works in a refrigerated goods rental store, a stone's throw from the Paray gate.
It will be a constraint for us, but nothing more.
If they have to come to that, I understand them perfectly and they are right to go there frankly.
Several gendarmerie armored vehicles were deployed this Monday.
Maxime Dubernet / Le Figaro
Before traveling several dozen kilometers with his utility vehicle, Tom spoke on the phone with his boss about the cargo to be delivered, but also about the upcoming schedule.
“We don’t yet know if we will be able to work properly on Wednesday
,” explains the young man, window down and hat screwed on his head.
My boss is struggling to reorganize the week.
For me, it could give me an extra day of rest!”
Benjamin, at the head of a small family business, is a little more concerned.
“The farmers have announced the color (sic) in recent days
,” estimates the thirty-year-old while scratching his beard.
I'm waiting to see the government's announcements, but I have the impression that we are at a tipping point."
“They threw some manure.
It’s okay, right?”
The story is not very different among Rungis residents.
They too seem to support the movement, and seeing the surprised expressions when asked about possible fears, it is easy to understand their lack.
“We can't say that they have shown violence until then
,” says Sophie, shopping bag in hand.
They are not doing too much at the moment, and I am sure that this will push the government to react accordingly.
The fifty-year-old is not more worried about
“the lungs of the Île de France”
.
“If they want to be heard, we have to touch on what is disturbing
,” she continues.
A stone's throw away, on the steps of her home, Margaux quickly targets the news channels, accused of exaggerating and distorting events, in an attempt to
"demonize"
the demonstrators.
“We tend to overexaggerate in our country
,” she smiles.
They threw a little manure, blocked a few roads.
It's okay, right?
We must not sink into catastrophism.”
This afternoon, the Ministry of the Interior and the Val-de-Marne prefecture met to put together the security plan to welcome the arrival of farmers.
The content of the plan will set the tone for the meeting between farmers and the market of national interest.