In the midst of farmers’ anger, the Rural Coordination (CR) is trying to take the lead in the movement by playing the radical card. The second agricultural union hopes that this strategy will allow it to win “a maximum” of chambers of agriculture from the majority FNSEA during the professional elections in January.
“The purpose of this mobilization is to recover as many rooms as possible and to have power in Paris, to influence decision-making,” explains Amélie Rebière, president of the CR in Corrèze and 3rd vice-president. national president of the union.
A crucial vote for the CR
These professional elections will determine the governance of the chambers of agriculture and the public funding allocated to the unions. A crucial vote for the second agricultural union, which today runs three chambers (Lot-et-Garonne, Vienne and Haute-Vienne) and estimates that it can “take 15 to 20”, according to Lionel Candelon, president of the CR in the Gers.
The CR’s strategy is the opposite of that of the FNSEA. The majority union advocates actions that are initially symbolic but above all to show its capacity to mobilize across the entire territory. The CR, less anchored, where the autonomy of the sections takes precedence during field actions, intends instead to strike people’s minds with flashes of brilliance.
Some of the CR are even ready to go far. In their stronghold in the South-West, the “yellow hats” claim to want to “cause chaos” to make themselves heard, establishing a filter barrier on Tuesday at the Spanish border, targeting mass distribution purchasing centers on Wednesday or blocking the port of Bordeaux.
Our Agriculture file
In Chasseneuil-du-Poitou, in Vienne, at the 31st congress of the union born from a split in the FNSEA after disagreements over the Common Agricultural Policy of 1992, the tone was immediately winning and the slogan clear: “Organize yourself to overthrow the power of the FNSEA,” said Christian Convers, general secretary of the union, on Tuesday. From the podium, he castigated the “co-management” of agriculture between FNSEA and the government, which only resulted, according to him, in the disappearance of 100,000 farms in ten years in France. An “agricide”, according to the union.
Annie Genevard returns to the field
The fight is existential for its president Véronique Le Floc’h, who adopted the martial tone of her troops on Wednesday, calling at the end of the congress to “win the last assault” launched. “If necessary we will go up to the Elysée, we have nothing more to lose,” she added. Asked about the continuation of the movement, she had previously warned that there would be “no break”, again distinguishing herself from the FNSEA which had planned a truce for Christmas.
On the government side, the Minister of Agriculture will try this Thursday to thwart this escalation. Annie Genevard will therefore carry out her first field visit to Pas-de-Calais since the return of farmers to the streets on Monday.
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