Caroline Baudry (in Carbonne) / Photo credits: JEAN-MARC BARRERE / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 7:15 a.m., January 27, 2024, modified at 7:16 a.m., January 27, 2024

Gabriel Attal's announcements, which were eagerly awaited, convinced some of the farmers, including the organizer of the movement Jérôme Bayle, who believes he has won on several points. Another victory for the leader of the mobilization, the movement of Gabriel Attal on the A64.

After several days of blockage, the A64 motorway, near Carbonne, should be free of tractors by this Saturday noon. The Occitan breeder, Jérôme Bayle, initiator of the dam and figure of the movement, considered having “won” on three main points: non-road diesel (GNR), irrigation and MHE (also called Covid of the cow). Another victory for the new leader, the surprise visit of Gabriel Attal to the A64 dam, accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau and the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu.

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Friday evening, the rows of tractors which had been blocking the A64 motorway for eight days allowed the Prime Minister's vehicle to pass. Jérôme Bayle, organizer of the movement, warns his men, who form arm in arm a security cordon around the head of government and ministers. They wander around in the crowd. 

After a few exchanges, Gabriel Attal, perched on a chair, speaks into the microphone. “Thank you all for fighting for your profession. Thank you all for meeting your responsibilities. Thank you all for making us so proud of our country,” he said.

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“We won a match”

Standing at his side, Jérôme Bayle announces the lifting of the blockade. "There was

three words here: respect, solidarity, determination. We didn't break anything, we stood together. We made more than 500-600 meals a day. And we carried our determination to the end since we won a match. He gave me dates. If he doesn't keep the dates, he knows I'm capable of waking up at three in the morning and saying, 'Oh, you forgot me!' If there are some who want to stay there, they stay there but Jérôme Bayle will no longer be on the highway tomorrow morning,” says the farmer at the microphone of Europe 1.

“Don't forget one thing,” he said, “if the unions like to pull cover, the first one to enter the highway on a tractor was me.”