PARIS (AP) – On the eve of a major agricultural fair in the French capital, angry farmers staged fresh protests Friday demanding more government support and simpler regulations, tearing up tractors. I rode back to Paris.
Dozens of tractors peacefully entered Paris carrying the flag of Rural Coordination, the farmers’ union that staged the protest. The demonstrators then posed with tractors on a bridge over the Seine River with the Eiffel Tower in the background, before heading to Place Vauban in central Paris, where they all gathered for a demonstration.
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The protests come as the government denies more than 400 million euros ($433 million) in aid to farmers to address their grievances over low incomes, strict regulations and what is described as unfair competition from abroad. The attack comes three weeks after farmers in Paris and other parts of the country lifted barricades in response to the donation.
“Save our agriculture,” the Rural Coordination Bureau said on X (formerly Twitter). One tractor had a poster on it that read, “Death is in the field.”
On Friday morning, the convoy briefly backed up traffic on the A4 motorway and the Paris ring road in the east of the capital.
A man takes a photo of a tractor with the Eiffel Tower in the background on Friday, February 23, 2024 in Paris. On the eve of a major agricultural fair in the French capital, angry farmers returned to Paris on tractors in fresh protests demanding more government support and simpler regulations.
The French farmers’ actions are part of a broader European protest movement against the EU’s agricultural policies, bureaucracy and overall management.
Farmers say environmental policies in the 27 member states, such as the Green Deal, which calls for limits on chemical use and greenhouse gas emissions, limit farmers’ operations and make their produce more expensive than non-EU imports. I feel dissatisfied.
Other protests are taking place across France as farmers seek to pressure the government to fulfill its commitments.
Government officials have held a series of meetings with farmers’ unions in recent weeks to discuss a new bill aimed at defending France’s “agricultural sovereignty,” which is expected to be debated in parliament this spring.
The government’s plan includes hundreds of millions of euros in aid, tax breaks and a promise not to ban pesticides in France that are allowed elsewhere in Europe. French farmers claim the ban puts them at an unfair disadvantage.
Cyril Hoffmann, a Burgundy grain producer and member of the Rural Coordination Committee, said farmers now want the government to “take action”.
He said his union is advocating for the agricultural industry to be excluded from free trade agreements.
“We can have a free trade agreement, but agriculture should not be included in the agreement, so we can maintain our sovereignty over food,” Hoffman said. “France is the only country that is eradicating agriculture.”
French President Emmanuel Macron was scheduled to visit the Paris Agricultural Expo on Saturday, but Macron did not discuss the topic of a “grand debate” with farmers and members of environmental groups at the pre-scheduled event. Looks like it was deleted.
The president’s office announced late Friday that the president will meet with farmers’ unions before the fair opens.
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But France’s main farmers’ union, FNSEA, announced on Friday that its board had decided not to take part in the discussions because “the conditions for peaceful dialogue have not been met.” FNSEA held another protest on Friday afternoon in Paris, near the fairgrounds.
The Paris Agricultural Exhibition is one of the world’s largest agricultural expositions, attracting large numbers of people every year.
