the Rural Coordination tries in vain to demonstrate

Around 200 farmers and around fifty tractors from Rural Coordination (CR) from the North of France are at the gates of Paris this Monday, January 6, said the Minister of Agriculture, Annie Genevard, in the program “Good morning ! The morning » on TF1. On the eve of the start of the electoral campaign for the chambers of agriculture, the yellow hats of the second agricultural union want to make their voice heard: against free trade agreements, against unfair competition, including intra-European competition. , and against controls on farms.

If a few dozen farmers, particularly from Marne and Aube, tried to gather at Trocadéro to reach the Arc de Triomphe, they were held back by the police. Not far from Matignon, seven others accompanied by a goat were “evicted without incident”according to a police source. “Their concern is perfectly understandable. The Rural Coordination has chosen demonstrations this weekend. I respect the right to demonstrate”reacted the minister. Despite everything, Annie Genevard wants to be uncompromising about not blocking Paris. “We don’t block, we don’t disrupt”Above all “one day back to school”she said. “No blockages which ultimately compromise the image of farmers among the French. And no violence.”

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According to AFP, around ten tractors and around fifteen cars which were parked at the Ablis Nord industrial zone (Yvelines) forced their way and entered the N10 national road, before being blocked at the level. des Essarts-le-Roi. Another convoy was blocked in Orveau, in Essonne. It has been unblocked, says Rural Coordination. On the other hand, small convoys were progressing again in Seine-et-Marne (on the RN4 towards Paris) and in the Rhône, where around thirty tractors were moving on departmental road 342 towards Vourles, towards the motorway. A7.

A meeting with the Prime Minister hoped for before January 13

The Rural Coordination maintained its call to demonstrate in «Paris» et «everywhere in France» from Sunday, judging the date of the meeting with Prime Minister François Bayrou, who gave them an appointment on January 13, still too far away. “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,” said Patrick Legras last Friday. “We maintain our call to demonstrate, everywhere in France, (…) to go to Paris, by car or tractor. The idea is to be there on Sunday afternoon to demonstrate on Monday. the spokesperson continued.

Although they are at the gates of the capital, the Minister of Agriculture indicated that Prime Minister François Bayrou would not receive them before next week, as planned. “He is committed to it”underlined Annie Genevard, who recalls having received the farmers several times over the last four months. “The urgency they put forward to be received now, here right away”was not really justified, added the minister. She also specified that the agricultural law would be “among the first texts” to be “presented to Parliament” after the budget law. “Agriculture is a priority, it is an essential area for the lives of the French and all the work of the governments of Michel Barnier and François Bayrou is to hear this anger, these demands.”

For her part, the president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse also spoke on the subject at the microphone of France Info, believing that farmers should directly complain to the National Rally, close to the sector, that she believes she is partly responsible for the situation. “It is because of the RN and the motion of censure that the aid could not be voted on before Christmas. I would have a little advice to give to the National Coordination: instead of blocking the Ile-de-France roads, they should go and block the RN headquarters”she said.

“Forcing the roadblocks”

On the ground, the demonstrators deplored being blocked simply because of “wear a yellow hat” and said they were determined to move forward. “We are going to force the roadblocks”declared Monday morning Sébastien Héraud, member of the CR steering committee on France Info. The union’s general secretary, Christian Convers, said he sent a message to the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau and to the prime minister’s chief of staff to ask “a base in Paris”. The authorities can do “the necessary supervision but we assure that there will be no problem of overflow”he added. “Let the parliamentarians come and chat with us for a moment, and we will leave. We are not here to camp in Paris, we are not here to annoy the Parisians”he said on RMC.

For the moment, no convoy has entered the capital, where traffic was usual this Monday morning. The Paris police headquarters has banned undeclared gatherings from Sunday 6 p.m. to Monday 12 p.m. in a large area of ​​central Paris, 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.

This mobilization comes before the professional elections, organized from January 15 to 31, which will determine the new balance of power between agricultural unions: the CR, which has gained visibility thanks to punchy actions since last winter, hopes stealing around fifteen rooms from the hegemonic FNSEA-Young Farmers alliance.