PARIS (AP) — Indignant farmers had been again in Paris on their tractors in a brand new protest Friday demanding extra authorities assist and easier rules, on the eve of a significant agricultural honest within the French capital.
Dozens of tractors drove peacefully into Paris carrying flags from Rural Coordination, the farmers’ union that staged the protest. The protesters then posed with their tractors on a bridge over the Seine River with the Eiffel Tower within the background, earlier than heading in direction of the Vauban plaza in central Paris, the place all of them gathered for the demonstration.
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The most recent protest comes three weeks after farmers lifted roadblocks round Paris and elsewhere within the nation after the federal government provided over 400 million euros ($433 million) to deal with their grievances over low earnings, heavy regulation and what they describe as unfair competitors from overseas.
“Save our agriculture,” the Rural Coordination mentioned on X, previously Twitter. One tractor was carrying a poster studying: “Death is in the field.”
The convoy briefly slowed site visitors on the A4 freeway, east of the capital, and on the Paris ring-road earlier on Friday morning.
A person takes {a photograph} of a tractor, with the Eiffel Tower in background, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Paris. Indignant farmers had been again to Paris on their tractors in a brand new protest demanding extra authorities assist and easier rules, on the eve of a significant agricultural honest within the French capital.
French farmers’ actions are a part of a broader protest motion in Europe in opposition to EU agriculture insurance policies, forms and total enterprise situations.
Farmers complain that the 27-nation bloc’s environmental insurance policies, such because the Inexperienced Deal, which requires limits on the usage of chemical substances and on greenhouse gasoline emissions, restrict their enterprise and make their merchandise costlier than non-EU imports.
Different protests are being staged throughout France as farmers search to place stress on the federal government to implement its guarantees.
Authorities officers have held a collection of conferences with farmers unions in current weeks to debate a brand new invoice meant to defend France’s “agricultural sovereignty,” and which shall be debated in parliament this spring.
The federal government’s plan additionally contains a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of euros in help, tax breaks and a promise to not ban pesticides in France which can be allowed elsewhere in Europe. French farmers say such bans put them at an unfair drawback.
Cyril Hoffman, a cereal producer within the Burgundy area and a member of the Rural Coordination, mentioned farmers now need the federal government to “take action.”
He mentioned his union is advocating for exempting the farming business from free commerce agreements.
“They can make free trade agreements but agriculture should not be part of them, so we can remain sovereign regarding our food,” Hoffman mentioned. “Only in France do we let our farming disappear.”
French President Emmanuel Macron deliberate to go to the Paris Agricultural Truthful on Saturday, although his workplace appeared to have eliminated his agenda a beforehand scheduled “big debate” with farmers and members of environmental teams on the occasion.
The president will meet with farmers’ unions earlier than the honest’s opening, his workplace mentioned late Friday.
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But France’s main farmer’s union, the FNSEA, mentioned Friday its board determined to not take part within the debate as a result of “conditions for a peaceful dialogue are not met.” The FNSEA staged one other protest in Paris, close to the positioning of the honest, on Friday afternoon.
The Paris Agricultural Truthful is likely one of the world’s largest farm festivals, drawing crowds yearly.
