Rural Coordination calls for demonstrations and to “mount on Paris” from Sunday

The Rural Coordination (CR), the second agricultural union, calls on its members to demonstrate “ everywhere in France » et « to ride in Paris, by car or tractor » from Sunday January 5. “ The idea is to be there on Sunday afternoon to demonstrate on Monday”declared Friday to Agence France-Presse (AFP) Patrick Legras, spokesperson for the union, specifying that the organization of the mobilization remained the prerogative of the sections in the regions.

Friday morning, M^me Le Floc'h, president of the CR, declared on RTL radio to wait for a response from Matignon before deciding on the follow-up to be given to the planned mobilization. “What we want are measures that will allow us to continue working without it costing us more”she explained. “We are offered a meeting with François Bayrou on Monday January 13. They're making fun of us, they're just buying time. There is no will to move forward”deplores Mr. Legras, announcing the continuation of the mobilization.

The agricultural unions will be received by the Prime Minister on January 13, Matignon confirmed on Friday, a date still considered too far away by the union. François Bayrou will receive “in turn” organizations, said Matignon, citing the FNSEA, the Rural Coordination, the Peasant Confederation and the Young Farmers (JA). This is a “first meeting with organizations to discuss issues and emergencies”says the government. According to union sources, the president of the majority union, the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, will be received on Monday January 13 in the morning and a meeting on the same day at 2 p.m. has been offered to Véronique Le Floc'h.

Electoral issues

The call to demonstrate was mainly relayed locally, by the different departmental sections of the CR, a few days before the official launch of the campaign for the elections to the chambers of agriculture, on January 7. The vote, which will take place online or by mail from January 15 to 31, will determine the new balance of power between agricultural unions.

One of the challenges of this election will be to see to what extent the CR, whose “yellow caps” have gained visibility since last winter's crisis, can shake up the hegemony of the majority alliance FNSEA-JA, who had also requested “an emergency appointment” with François Bayrou following his appointment.

Customary of punchy actions, the CR wants to obtain guarantees from the Prime Minister for the defense of a « exception “agriculturelle” » French, focused on the protection of small farmers, whom it considers crushed by free trade. In recent days, the union was particularly expecting from the head of government a « engagement » on two points “which cost nothing”explained to AFP Sophie Lenaerts, vice-president of the CR: on the one hand, “stopping the over-transposition of European rules in France”that's to say “to see only European standards applied, so that all European farmers have the same regulations” ; on the other hand, the implementation of “controls on imports rather than on farms”she explained.