French farmers
' tractors occupied Paris
.
One day before debating with President Emmanuel Macron at the traditional Agricultural Hall, the countrymen decided to arrive this Friday at the Invalides and Napoleon's tomb to make their claims heard.
The limousines of the very chic VII neighborhood of the French capital were replaced by the noise and smell of engine oil.
In the midst of a magnificent traffic jam, which lasted for kilometers and covered the Periférico that surrounds the city, rural producers maintain pressure on the government.
This time with a view of the Eiffel Tower, which is closed for its fifth day of strike.
“We are going to stay there,” says Nicolas Bongay, who is one of the organizers of the mobilization.
Nicolas Bongay, the initiator of this convoy from Doubs, stated that he had no intention of respecting the dispersal order, scheduled for the end of the afternoon.
“We had permission to stay until five in the afternoon.
But this program does not suit us,” she states.
“We are going to stay here.”
The farmers are targeting the Agricultural Hall in the Porte de Versailles, south of the capital.
“We are negotiating that.
But we will go anyway,” says Nicolas Bongay.
This Rural Coordination convoy will try to join the FNSEA, which in turn had a concentration planned.
Rural producers protested in Paris and other cities in France.
Photo: EFE
The French farmers' protests are part of a broader movement across Europe against the European Union's agricultural policy, bureaucracy and general conditions in the sector.
They complain that the 27-nation bloc's environmental policies, such as the Green Deal - which requires limiting the use of chemicals and greenhouse gas emissions - limit
their business and make their products more expensive relative to imports
from outside. of the block.
With a view of the Eiffel Tower
“I am very surprised by this support,” reacts a peasant in the Parisian procession.
Cyril, 59, who came from the Seine and Marne on his tractor, discovered Paris for the first time.
The cereal producer is not against holding the fair.
“It is good to make the profession known.”
But, very cautious in the face of the government's announcements, which are "just words", he jokes about Emmanuel Macron's arrival in the living room on Saturday.
“Those who sell eggs there better hide them or they'll leave quickly!” he jokes.
"He's going to see what angry farmers are like."
“It's not about moving forward, it's just words.
For things to change, the show should not take place”, considers Alexandre Cuny.
“Why should we have a salon this year?
She is the showcase of French agriculture and she is not doing well!
Usually people advertise to us and then don't hear from us again for 2 or 3 years.
This time we want to show that we will not give up like this,” she said, from his tractor, at the blockade on the Mirabeau bridge, in the heart of Paris.
The atmosphere was very calm in Place Vauban.
The farmers parked their tractors and lit the fire for their lunch break, French fries included, as the CR, the French anti-riot forces, looked on.
Motorists and passersby greet them, encourage them.
“This support warms my heart,” says Cyril, on his first ever visit to Paris.
throughout France
It's not just in Paris that tractors are on the road.
Also in Nantes the tractors are out of service and in the south of the country.
Farmers in Loire-Atlantique also showed their anger this Friday.
Tractors paraded in front of the castle of the Dukes of Brittany in Nantes.
“The government's responses are not satisfactory,” denounced the FNSEA 44 in X.
The protest of rural producers, this Friday in Paris.
Photo: EFE
Macron invites debate
President Emmanuel Macron organized a debate with farmers on Saturday, at the Agriculture Hall, to solve a crisis that plunges him into a tough fight to survive with his profession, with its meager profits and the bureaucracy imposed by Brussels.
There are many suicides among countrymen due to its weak profitability.
“The Presidency of the Republic worked with the organization of the show to hold an open moment of listening and debate on the future of French agriculture to confirm the actions initiated in recent weeks, make new commitments and set the course for the coming years,” the Elysée said in a statement.
The invitations, with the organization of the show, refer to farmers, agricultural unions, agri-food industries, distributors and environmental associations represented in the organizations.
Furthermore, contacts have been established with groups that have disrupted the show in the past to offer them, for this edition, a constructive expression within the framework of this exchange," the Elysée justified in a publication in X.