Rural Coordination farmers blocked in their attempt to reach Paris

Convoys of tractors set off from different regions of France on Sunday, January 5, with a view to reaching Paris on Monday, but none has yet returned to the capital due in particular to the presence of law enforcement on their journey.

The farmers of Rural Coordination (CR), the second French agricultural union, are trying to “go to Paris” to express their discontent, still denouncing the trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur, just before the elections to the chambers of agriculture, where they hope to gain influence.

“Our tractors have left, but in the places where they are grouped together, the gendarmes prevent them from moving”declared to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Christian Convers, secretary general of the movement, Sunday evening. Mr. Convers himself was briefly arrested by the police at the end of the afternoon in Paris, just as he was arriving by car to take part in a symbolic gathering at Place du Brazil, in protest against the recent trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay). This agreement is accused by French farmers of favoring the import of low-cost products with lower environmental standards than those imposed on them.

“They released me, telling me that I had to leave Paris, which would mean that we would no longer even be allowed to walk on the sidewalk in Paris? »he noted. “We are not coming to block Paris, in fact we have agreed not to return to the capital on Sunday evening, returning from vacation, we are coming by tractor to express our concerns, and we need a base where we group »he added.

“If no base is granted to us by the authorities, this will turn into a confrontation that we do not want”also launched Mr. Convers.

Undeclared gatherings prohibited in central Paris

The Paris police headquarters has banned undeclared gatherings from Sunday 6 p.m. to Monday at noon, in a large area of ​​the center of the capital, including in particular Matignon and the Ministry of Agriculture, “considering the calls to demonstrate on January 5, 2025 launched by an agricultural union with a view to “blocking the capital””. The Val-de-Marne prefecture did the same around the Rungis market and on the A6 motorway.

Before converging on Paris, Monday morning, farmers from all over Normandy met in Heudebouville on the side of the A13 where the police prevented them from going any further. Other gathering places are planned in the north, west and south of the capital.

“We are asking to have the same production standards as other countries, we are asking for reductions in controls on farms and increases in controls in supermarkets where we find products that do not meet our standards”explained to AFP, Damien Cornier from Rural Coordination in Normandy, reached by telephone, who grows cereals and beets in Andelys (Eure).

“We found sugar and flour from Ukraine” in supermarkets, “while the manufacturer who buys sugar beets from us is asking us to reduce our production volumes by 15% this year, and prices per tonne will increase to 23 euros in 2025 compared to 36-38 euros in 2024”he added.

Elections to the chambers of agriculture

The actions of the CR, which give it media and union visibility, come on the eve of the launch of the campaign for the elections to the chambers of agriculture. These elections, organized from January 15 to 31, will determine the new balance of power between agricultural unions, among which the FNSEA is ultra-dominant according to the last election of 2019. The four main unions, including the Rural Coordination, must be received in Matignon on January 13.

“Guaranteeing decent remuneration is the mother of battles”assured the Minister of Agriculture, Annie Génevard, in the Sunday newspaper. Regarding the EU-Mercosur agreement, she assured that the process was “far from finished” and that the government “was going to fight like crazy against this bad agreement”.