The commercial port of Bordeaux will resume service. The Rural Coordination (CR), the main union that remained mobilized throughout the day, announced this Thursday, November 21 in the evening that it would lift the blockade of the commercial port of Bordeaux on Friday morning, considering that the Prime Minister had responded to its demands on European standards. “We asked Mr. Barnier to commit to the “overtransposition” (of European rules), he responded openly to what we asked him, he said [ndlr : mercredi devant le Sénat] : the farmers are right, there are too many standards”, José Pérez, co-president of CR47, told AFP.
“I want to say about simplification, farmers are right to ask that we look at the European provisions one by one and their application here,” declared the head of government Michel Barnier on Wednesday afternoon before the Senate.
“We are people of our word, we decided to break camp,” added José Pérez, explaining that “in the heat of the moment”, the Prime Minister's statements initially escaped his troops. For its part, the prefecture of Gironde indicated that “exchanges are continuing between state services and demonstrators to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.”
The port authorities have expressed their “incomprehension” faced with this action, asserting that “Bordeaux is a cereal export port serving the regional agricultural sector” and that Il “does not import cereals”, CR47 affirming the opposite.
Announcements made regarding simplification in the coming days, assures the Minister of Agriculture
Traveling in Pas-de-Calais this Thursday, Minister of Agriculture Annie Genevard visited a chicory farm and echoed the concerns of the farmers. “I think that what is authorized in Europe should also be authorized in France, what is prohibited in Europe must also be prohibited in France”she said during the day.
Beyond opposition to the Mercosur agreement, among the demands of farmers, back on the roads since Sunday, is the reauthorization of a neurotoxic insecticide (acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid) banned in France, but still authorized elsewhere in the EU, requested by sugar beet and hazelnut producers. The minister also promised “In the coming days, announcements regarding simplification”.
The blockade of the Bordeaux port, 7th in the country for goods traffic, was the last major action carried out by farmers this week. Thursday afternoon, the authorities identified 651 farmers and 242 machines mobilized in 13 departments. On Europe1/Cnews, the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau repeated this Thursday that there was “red lines” not to exceed: “no encystment”, “no blockage”.
