Europe 1 / Photo credit: LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL / AFP 9:58 a.m., February 16, 2024

While the Agricultural Show opens its doors in a week, the agricultural crisis does not seem to be over. In certain cities in France, demonstrations are resuming and unions are threatening the government. For Jacques Bès, secretary general of the FDSEA, the objective is to block Emmanuel Macron from entering the show in Paris.

The government thought it had turned the page on the agricultural crisis. But unfortunately, nothing is less certain. Thursday, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal was in contact with breeders in the Marne. On site, the mission for the head of government was to listen and dialogue. But for some farmers, who have run out of patience, it is already too late. Faced with this, demonstrations are resuming, as in Poitiers, in Chambord, where dozens of tractors are parked in front of the castle, and in Montauban, where manure was dumped in front of the town hall gates. 

“There’s no point in him coming.”

And for the secretary general of the FDSEA, Jacques Bès, the objective is to deny Emmanuel Macron access to the Salon de l'Agriculture. “We intend to maintain the pressure because we have not been successful in terms of our demands,” he explains at the microphone of Europe 1. According to him, if the situation does not improve, the movement risk of hardening and going up a notch. “A notch above, that means that we are reserving buses to go to Paris to prohibit politicians from entering the living room,” assures Jacques Bès. 

>> READ ALSO -

 INFO EUROPE 1 - Salon de l'Agriculture 2024: information fears excesses

For the trade unionist, if the government is not ready to listen to farmers, there is no point in coming “to the show to be seen”. “We are ready to leave Friday evening to be early in Paris on Saturday morning to block Mr. Macron who will not go to the Agricultural Show since he does not want to do what we ask of him,” he warns . Aware of this risk, the Prime Minister orders the Prefects to go out into the field and contact farmers this weekend. He asks them to accelerate the implementation of the first decrees signed by the government.