Farmers are taking action again

At the request of the regional branch of the FNSEA, demonstrations took place in Essonne, south of Paris, on Tuesday. A local mobilization that served as a prelude to a new national mobilization, warned the unions.

There were around twenty farmers who came with three tractors to block the entrance to the farm located in the heart of the village of Auvernaux, in Essonne, Tuesday 18 November. Participants blocked control of this exploitation because they believed the State would not listen to their outrage.

This is where state officials must come and check whether the use of phytosanitary products is in order. “The goal is very clear, namely ‘stop, no control’, it’s over, we don’t want it anymore as long as the products that enter French territory do not respect the standards that we apply to ourselves”explained Victor Rabier, a cereal farmer in a neighboring town, and very worried about the future.

Wheat prices are indeed at their lowest point and fertilizer prices are at risk of rising 1^uh January with the introduction of a carbon tax at the European Union’s borders. And there is still the project of a free trade agreement with the South American Mercosur countries. “We have so many taxes coming, I don’t understand how we can trip up agriculture to this extent.” denounced Victor Rabier.

“Right now it is our government that is sabotaging agriculture.”

Victor Rabier

at franceinfo

Demonstrators will mobilize again on Wednesday and next week to prevent further administrative control in the region. Their counterparts in Normandy have fanned the flames of anger in recent days. These local actions are the starting point for the resumption of the national movement, warned Frédéric Arnoult, secretary general of the FNSEA in Ile-de-France. “There is a small difference, namely that one and a half years ago, we were in an economic situation that was not as difficult as now. Here, we are in an agricultural downturn that is not only economic, but also psychological. We will no longer accept the pressure that happened one and a half years ago.”

The head of the FNSEA Paris region believes that the agricultural orientation law, which emerged from the last mobilization and the Duplom law to remove obstacles to farmers, has not been implemented. “First, the agricultural orientation law has been completely emptied of its contents. And the Duplomb law has certainly been enacted, but no implementation decree has been issued yet, so we must stop considering ourselves naive.”

There is also the question of the CAP, the common agricultural policy, which the European Commission wants to reduce by 20% in the coming years. Regarding all this, farmers are already planning to demonstrate in Brussels at the end of December, when the European Council holds a meeting of the leaders of the 27 European Union countries.