The mobilization of farmers in France entered its third day on Wednesday.
AFP
The mobilization of farmers in France entered its third day on Wednesday with the Rural Coordination (CR) union operating in the South-West and on the Spanish border, the government condemning “not acceptable” damage and blockages on Tuesday evening .
The Minister of Agriculture Annie Genevard declared on Wednesday on the public channel France 2 that the “acts of degradation, of blockage at the Spanish border” at the initiative of the CR, the country’s second agricultural union, were “not acceptable” and risked undermining the “sympathy” of the French towards the profession.
“Attacking property, attacking people, permanently blocking the country, that is not acceptable. And I say this to the members of the Rural Coordination who, in six departments of France last night, engaged in acts of degradation, of blockage at the Spanish border,” said Ms. Genevard.
On the A9 motorway in particular, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, farmers from the CR established a roadblock at a toll on Tuesday, blocking goods trucks but allowing cars to pass, around ten kilometers from the Spanish border.
“We are going to block the A9, but also the fuel depots, the ports, the purchasing centers. We want to cause chaos and a food shortage,” assured Serge Bousquet-Cassagne, figure of this union in the South-West, present at the dam.
On the A9, “a river of fruits and vegetables arriving from Spain”, he said he was considering “a blockage (…) over several days”.
Debate on the Mercosur agreement
In Agen, some 350 to 400 demonstrators (according to the police) gathered on Tuesday in front of the prefecture, where manure and waste were dumped, just like in front of the Limoges prefecture, according to the authorities.
A delegation had been received at the prefecture. Failing to have obtained “strong commitments” from the Minister of Agriculture, the two leaders of the local CR, Karine Duc and José Perez, had refused to leave the premises and finally “had to be escorted by the forces of the “order, without incident”, according to a press release from the prefecture published Tuesday evening.
Authorities also report another “blocking point” still in place Wednesday morning in Charleville-Mézières.
The French Biodiversity Office (OFB) for its part denounced “degradation” of its premises in Oise and Creuse on Tuesday.
Less than a year after a historic mobilization, agricultural unions believe they have not made enough progress.
They also fear an imminent ratification of a free trade agreement between the European Union and Latin American Mercosur countries.
Tuesday, however, after the first two days of action, the majority alliance of FNSEA-Young Farmers (JA) unions hailed “a first victory” after the announcement of the holding of a debate followed by a vote on November 26 to the National Assembly (lower house of Parliament) on this treaty, largely rejected as it stands by the French political class.
On Wednesday morning, the boss of the FNSEA Arnaud Rousseau, however, announced a new mobilization of his troops next “Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday”.
The FNSEA-JA alliance avoided organizing blockades like last year, favoring symbolic actions “not to annoy the French”.
More offensive
According to the authorities, 30 actions were carried out during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, bringing together 1,930 farmers and 512 machines, without incident or arrest.
From the same source, Tuesday was “marked by the mobilization of the Rural Coordination union demonstrating a decidedly more offensive and determined state of mind than that of the JA or the FDSEA”, while the CR is holding in parallel his national congress in Vienne, where he has chaired the chamber of agriculture since 2019.
During the next professional elections, scheduled for January, she intends to win over other chambers from the FNSEA-JA alliance, which she considers too close to agro-industry and successive governments.
In the absence of satisfactory responses from the State, the union is calling for food freight to be blocked from Wednesday. It could in particular target mass distribution purchasing centers in Charente, Landes or Tarn-et-Garonne.
(afp)
