Has the Prime Minister succeeded in calming the anger of farmers? Gabriel Attal declined, Thursday, February 1, a new series of measures to try to defuse the crisis in the agricultural sector.
Among the announcements are the strengthening of the Egalim laws; a “pause” in the reduction of phytosanitary products; 150 million euros in tax and social support for breeders; raising the exemption thresholds on agricultural inheritances.
The Prime Minister spoke from Matignon, surrounded by his ministers Bruno Le Maire (Economy), Marc Fesneau (Agriculture) and Christophe Béchu (Ecological Transition), This was his third round of announcements on the subject in less of a week.
Shortly after these announcements, the majority unions FNSEA and Young Farmers called for the blockades in France to be suspended, while calling for the fight to continue. “We have decided that at this time, in view of everything that has been announced (...), we are calling on our networks (...) to suspend the blockages and enter into a new form of mobilization” , indicated the president of the JA Arnaud Gaillot, alongside the boss of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau.
Read alsoFollow live the anger of farmers in France and Europe
“We want to be sovereign”
The measures announced Thursday meet "a large part of the expectations" of farmers, assured Gabriel Attal, who "deeply believes" that they are "likely" to calm the protest. But, while the mobilization continues, the head of government nevertheless remained cautious, promising that “the work will continue”.
“We want to be sovereign, sovereign to cultivate, sovereign to harvest, sovereign to feed ourselves,” summarized Gabriel Attal, promising to include “the objective of (food) sovereignty in the law” and to enshrine “in the rural code agriculture as a fundamental interest of the nation.
“It is not a sovereignty withdrawn on itself because I do not forget that our agriculture is one of our main exporting sectors, with cereals, wines, spirits, dairy products. But it is an opening with rules of reciprocity and the same requirements for all,” he nevertheless clarified.
A strengthening of the Egalim laws which aim to prevent producers from bearing the brunt of the price war between supermarkets on the one hand, and distributors and suppliers of the agro-industry on the other, has been announced. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, specified that "all major supermarket chains" will be "controlled in the coming days" on this subject.
Read also “Circumvented” laws: why the anger of farmers also targets mass distribution
150 million euros in support of breeders
Gabriel Attal also announced an envelope of 150 million euros in tax and social support for breeders. The Minister of the Economy had already announced a tax exemption measure for cattle breeders in October. But the National Bovine Federation (FNB) expressed, last week, an “extremely strong disappointment” from breeders on this subject.
Gabriel Attal also announced the increase in the exemption thresholds for agricultural inheritances.
He pledged to relax the rules requiring farmers to maintain areas of meadows by applying “an exemption from the relocation obligation for one year”.
Gabriel Attal also said he wanted to prevent the importation into France of fruits and vegetables treated with the pesticide thiacloprid, a product banned in Europe.
At the same time, the Ecophyto plan aimed at reducing the use of pesticides will be put "on pause", specified the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau.
Read also: French farmers' rebellion: standards and cost of living are suffocating farmers
“Synthetic meat”
The head of government also called for "clear legislation at European level on the name of what synthetic meat is", because it does not "correspond to our conception of French food".
He also asked that the question of limiting Ukrainian grain imports into the European Union be included in a negotiation. The EU has not included cereals in a list of “sensitive” products on which imports can be curbed.
Gabriel Attal had received the FNSEA at length in recent days, for three and a half hours, notably on Monday evening, then almost three hours on Tuesday evening, as well as on Wednesday evening.
He also received representatives of the Peasant Confederation, the third agricultural union, and the Rural Coordination, the second union, on Wednesday morning.
President Emmanuel Macron, for his part, spoke in the morning with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the subject of the "future of European agriculture", before an extraordinary European summit devoted to the budget of the EU and the aid to be given to Ukraine.
In the country, road blockages, snail operations and demonstrations in front of supermarkets continue.
With AFP
The France 24 summary of the week
invites you to look back at the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 application