Referring to the “chaos” during the opening day of the Agricultural Show on Saturday, Arnaud Rousseau, president of the FNSEA, National Federation of Farmers' Unions, “
regretted
” this “
not very glorious spectacle
”.
“
We condemn violence at the FNSEA
,” declared the guest of the Grand Jury
RTL-Le Figaro-Paris Première-M6
, in particular “
in this show, an annual meeting of conviviality
”.
“
But we understand it
,” he insisted.
The boss of France's first agricultural union, several of whose members were among the disruptors on Saturday, recalled the distress of certain farmers.
“
There are more than 200,000 members of the FNSEA.
There are also people who, for a long time, have been telling us that they no longer believe in it, that, ultimately, there is enormous anger within them
,” he maintained.
And he is “not
surprised, because we have felt this anger building for weeks.
Expectations are high
”, which require “
concrete responses
”.
Maintain the pressure
The union leader, also a cereal producer and chairman of the board of the agri-food giant Avril, deplored the “
simulacrum of a great debate”,
which had been planned by the government and
“where we invited the Uprisings of the Earth
” (a movement of virulent environmental activists, editor's note), a way of “
putting fuel on the fire”
.
“
Now, what we need to do is move forward, find concrete solutions on farms and ensure that what happened yesterday does not happen again
,” he pointed out.
The FNSEA, a non-politicized union, which welcomes members from all sides, is “
neither in distrust nor in complacency
” vis-à-vis Emmanuel Macron.
But she “
wants that in the coming weeks, farmers will feel that this is changing
”.
We need to look at competitiveness factors and paperwork.
We must be able to “
look at the farm to see what has concretely changed
”.
There is “
a distrust of public speech.
It’s not going fast enough, the President of the Republic himself says so
.”
The union therefore intends to “
maintain the pressure
” while Emmanuel Macron has agreed to meet the agricultural sector in three weeks.
The series of announcements already made in recent weeks by the government, for more than 400 million euros, is “
a necessity to re-project a project for agriculture
”.
It is urgent to “
change software
”.
For example, by “
rearmament
” our food production in Europe.
Today there is “
a drop in production.
With a third of French food imported, we are opening our doors to products that respect neither our norms nor our production standards
.”
However, France is “
the country which has the highest standards of agricultural production, with some of the most sustainable food in the world
”.
No to protectionism
The boss of the FNSEA admits to being "
a little surprised
" by Emmanuel Macron's proposal on Saturday.
He proposed arriving at “
floor prices which will protect agricultural income
”, as part of the preparation of a new law governing relations between food stakeholders.
It is still necessary, insists the union, that these “
floor prices
” are really based on production costs by sector (poultry, milk, beef, etc.).
“
Protectionism is not possible in agriculture, it makes no sense
,” underlines Arnaud Rousseau.
French agricultural products are sold within the Union or across borders, French wines are at the top of the agri-food trade balance, cereals, dairy products are in surplus... “
We are asking for reciprocity .
We must continue to have discussions
,” he explains.
But “
we cannot support global trade with
very different production conditions and standards” for imports from “
what is imposed on us
” in France.
“
We
are pro-European at the FNSEA
”, only “
this Europe, as it was built
” does not suit us, he justifies.
On the other hand, Emmanuel Macron's commitment to “
recognize our agriculture and our food as a major general interest of the French nation
” and to enshrine it in law is “an initiative appreciated by the agricultural union.
“
It positions, on a legal level, agriculture in balance with the environment
”, which allows “
a constructive ecology
”.
The fact remains that we must continue to “
find solutions
”, including on the competitiveness of farms and the renewal of farmers, whose average age is today 55 years among breeders, urges Arnaud Rousseau.