Less than a year after a historic mobilization, the agricultural unions believe that the accounts are not there. They once again called on their troops to demonstrate, but in dispersed order, in the run-up to the professional elections which will be held in January.
This remote vote, in which less than one in two farmers participated in 2019, determines the governance of the chambers of agriculture and the public funding allocated to unions.
Monday – first of the two days of the G20 summit in Brazil – the majority alliance FNSEA-Young Farmers (JA) announced “85 demonstration points” across the country, but without any highway blockages.
The authorities identified “around forty actions” mobilizing 2,500 people, according to a police source.
Around fifteen blockages in Moselle
According to our colleagues from France Bleu Lorraine Nord, around fifteen blockages were reported this Monday evening in Moselle, notably near Metz, Thionville, Cattenom, Sarrebourg, Solgne and Farébersviller. “Fires of anger” were lit on roundabouts in several places.
The FNSEA repeats that it does not want to “annoy the French”, thus seeking to distance itself from the Rural Coordination (CR, 2nd agricultural union), which is accustomed to heavy-handed actions and which gained a lot of visibility last winter.
The CR is awaiting the holding of its congress (Tuesday and Wednesday) to amplify its mobilization. She promises “an agricultural revolt” with a “blockade of food freight” from Wednesday in the South-West if she does not obtain a response to her demands (reduction in social charges, taxes and the cost of agricultural fuel, in particular).
The fear of Mercosur
All day long, the FNSEA and its ally JA multiplied the symbols.
The organizations have planted crosses in the Var to evoke the mortal danger facing French agriculture, according to them. They blocked the Europe Bridge which connects Strasbourg to Germany to send a message to the European Commission, which seems determined to quickly conclude a free trade agreement with Latin American Mercosur countries.
Negotiated for more than 20 years, this treaty provides in particular for beef import quotas with reduced or zero customs duties.
FNSEA and JA plan to mobilize until mid-December, in three phases: against the current version of the agreement with Mercosur countries, against “standards” considered excessive and to denounce revenues considered insufficient.
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