Most French people admitted that they could not afford French agricultural products (Getty)

While farmers continue their protest movement on some of France's main highways due to insufficient income and European standards imposed on the agricultural sector, others have stormed shops to denounce the system of unfair foreign competition.

This comes despite the farmers' union's call to lift the blockade on the entrances to Paris after Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced a "second phase" of responses to the protest.

Several opinion polls conducted by local media revealed that 90% of the French people support these protests. While a survey conducted by Elab indicated that 35% of French people say they are willing to pay more to buy food products to support farmers, but 53% admit that they cannot afford them.

For their part, farmers believe that consumers prefer to buy imported food because it is less expensive at the expense of local production. In light of high inflation rates and the decline in purchasing power of a large segment of society, do the French really buy their food products 100% local?

French consumers prefer to buy imported food because it is less expensive than the local product (Al Jazeera)

Find the cheapest prices

Farmers' anger in France still has not completely subsided. In addition to the meager wages, lack of interest in the profession and heavy European standards, farmers say making a living has become more difficult due to foreign competition.

Products coming from abroad enjoy a low price compared to the prices of French farmers, which is why nearly half of the fruits and vegetables are imported annually into the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Agricultural economics expert Jean-Marie Sironi attributes this to the crisis that citizens are experiencing, pointing out that there are 9 million French people, equivalent to 15% of the population, who resort to food aid.

Sironi added, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that the prices of food products have increased by 20% over the past two years due to inflation, which prompts many to buy cheap products.

He continued by saying, "If we produce more expensively than the Dutch, Poles, or Turks, and the cost of labor in France is higher, this forces us to import, and it remains up to the consumer to choose what is most appropriate for him," noting that this "does not constitute a distortion of competition."

Data from the France Agrimer organization, which is responsible for monitoring agricultural production in the country, indicate that some French products - despite their high quality - are more expensive than other countries, including tomatoes, whose prices rise by approximately 24% (3.72 euros per kilo). ) for foreign tomatoes coming from Spain and Morocco (3 euros per kilo), whether from organic or conventional agriculture.

In a practical comparison conducted by France Bleu Radio, Bjarne Ybgor, he found that the cost of a shopping basket that amounts to 24 euros in supermarkets may reach 33 euros at farmers markets, a difference of approximately 10 euros.

Farmers criticize unfair competition.. Can the French pay the price to buy local products? (Al Jazeera)

Ukraine is the beneficiary?

Since the beginning of the war with Russia, the European Union has promised to provide economic support to Kiev by reducing customs taxes on imports of chicken, eggs, and grains from Ukraine, which sparked anger among farmers in these countries and threatened to flood their markets.

Farmers are demanding that Brussels reimpose customs duties beyond a certain quota on Ukrainian imports, while the General Association of Wheat and Grain Producers confirms that the quota should be “less than two million tons, as was the case before the war.”

Ukrainian wheat imports to the European Union increased 20-fold between 2021 and 2023, equivalent to a rise in production from 215,000 tons of wheat in 2021 to 5 million tons last year, according to the General Assembly.

While poultry imports from Ukraine jumped by 180% between 2021 and 2022, with between 15 and 25 thousand tons arriving in Europe every month, this contract was renewed last June 6 for a full year, according to statements by the director of the Joint Professional Association for Poultry. (Anvol) Jan Nedelec.

On the sidelines of the European Summit in Brussels on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about the rise in Ukrainian chicken imports from “90,000 tons before the outbreak of war to 300,000 tons,” acknowledging that “putting some goods on the European market destabilizes us,” he said.

The expert in agricultural economics denounced the volume of these Ukrainian imports “that are not restricted by European environmental standards, which explains their low prices, such as poultry, whose prices are two to four times cheaper than those produced in France,” stressing that “the blame should not be placed on the consumer who is moving towards these prices because of Weak purchasing power.

Emergency brake

In an attempt to calm farmer anger across Europe, Brussels announced “emergency brakes” on some products (eggs, sugar, poultry and grains) to stabilize imports at the average quantities imported over the past two years, levels after which tariffs will be reimposed.

Last Wednesday, the European Commission provided the first guarantees to workers in the agricultural sector, represented by a proposal to grant a partial exemption from wasteland obligations in the European Union, as well as ensuring intervention to limit any uncontrollable increase in Ukrainian agricultural imports.

This comes after accusations leveled by agricultural unions of lowering prices in local markets and being exposed to “unfair” competition by refraining from adhering to some European standards.

According to the text submitted to countries and members of the European Parliament, “rapid corrective measures” could be adopted in the event of “significant market disruptions,” even if they only concern one or more countries.

French Agriculture Minister Marc Visnot welcomed what he called "a simple and practical solution that combines transformation and production." The Elysee also confirmed that the European Commission responded to France's requests to ease obligations related to waste lands and limit Ukrainian agricultural imports.

Source: Al Jazeera