A month after the explosion of agricultural anger, tensions are not abating and tractor tires will once again hit the cobbled streets of the capital this Friday, February 23.
To maintain pressure on the government, trade unionists from the FNSEA (national federation of farmers' unions) and young farmers (JA) announced Tuesday a demonstration in Paris on the eve of the opening of the 60th edition of the Salon of agriculture.
The demonstration should begin at 4 p.m., at the Sèvres-Lecourbe metro station, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, specifies the FNSEA.
The procession, which must be carried by a few tractors, should end an hour later in front of the gates of the Porte de Versailles exhibition center (15th century), south of Paris, where the Salon will be held as usual.
Parisians can nevertheless expect “something calm and restrained,” a police source told AFP.
Do not take the Salon “hostage”
The secretary general of the FNSEA, Hervé Lapie, told AFP that the details of this mobilization have not yet been determined and that the number of demonstrators is still uncertain.
However, it is expected that at least some of them will stay there all night.
Note that, according to a source from the FNSEA, 2,000 to 3,000 people are expected and accreditations will be requested from all farmers who come on board their tractor.
Read also: Anger of farmers: Young Farmers and the FNSEA received this Tuesday at the Élysée
The president of Young Farmers (JA), Arnaud Gaillot, also called for “actions to raise awareness” during the inauguration of the Agricultural Show by Emmanuel Macron this Saturday, but to ban “degradation”.
For the head of the agricultural union, “we cannot have a normal Agricultural Show, as if nothing had happened in recent weeks and everything was going well”.
He also clarified that the aim of the operation was not, however, to “take hostage” the event which remains, according to him, “our showcase of agriculture”.
New agricultural bill
The decision to organize this new demonstration came even before the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, spoke on the subject during a press conference held this Wednesday morning.
Dedicated to the agricultural crisis, this speech aimed to detail the “main orientations” of a new agricultural bill and to ensure “monitoring and execution” of government measures already presented on February 1.
The Prime Minister notably assured that 62 commitments have been made and 100% of the projects are open.
A draft orientation law must in particular be presented at the end of the week with the aim of leading to a joint joint committee by June.
Gabriel Attal also announced the launch of a “solutions conference” on “collective catering” by April as well as that of a parliamentary mission on the Egalim law, which aims to guarantee good remuneration for farmers.