Charlie, 69, sums up: “We wouldn’t have gotten to this point if we had made a decent life.” Although he is now retired, he had previously devoted himself to growing grains and legumes and was clear about his reasons. agricultural protests France. Like dozens of union activists Rural Coordination, this retired farmer took part in the blockade of the A62 motorway near the town of Agen (southwest) on Tuesday. Large blocks of straw and dozens of tractors and agricultural machines Circulation became impossible because they parked in the middle of the road. In a collaborative approach with the protesters, the gendarmerie inspected that no vehicles were passing in the area between Toulouse and Bordeaux.
After recent months marked by peasant protests in Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Poland, rural anger has also reached France, arguably the loudest country in Europe. “Last week the blockades started on the Carbonne highway (between Toulouse and Tarbes), then we joined Agen. It’s like a snowball effect“, Thierry Gola, a farmer from Miramont-de-Guyenne, told El Periódico de Catalunya of the Prensa Ibérica group, who, like many of those gathered, was wearing the yellow hat of the Rural Coordination with a notable following throughout southern arc Protests increased in the country’s center and north of the region this Wednesday.
“They had forgotten about us, but now politicians are starting to talk about us,” Gola said with some satisfaction. It was three o’clock in the afternoon, time to have dinner around a plastic table erected in the middle of the highway. Next to it were pallets of apples and a bonfire with firewood. While the farmers who inspected the tractor convoy were resting there, most of the protesters had gone to the city to protest. cast wheels, straw, rotten fruit and animal waste— in front of the governor’s office (government delegation), agricultural investment fund and bank headquarters.
“I have no income left at the end of the month”
Protests continue without the control of FNSEA, the country’s first agricultural union and run by large producers with interests different from those of small farmers. organized by small trade union organizations or by unconnected farmers, as in Carbonne. Roadblocks and other actions threaten to spill over into anger. This Wednesday, the first moments of tension between farmers and police occurred in front of the prefecture in Agen. They set fire to a mountain of straw and wheels. A cargo truck was unloaded in Brittany with the permission of security forces. And last week members of a viticulture collective already caused a problem. Big explosion in the building In administrative work in Carcassonne.
The intensity of protest actions is increasing. This was compounded by the fact that on Tuesday morning a car crashed into a hay block in Ariège, near the border with Catalonia, killing a 37-year-old farmer and his 12-year-old daughter. This double murder, initially accidental, strengthened the determination of the agricultural workers. “The government did not listen to our demands and unfortunately there were two deaths. They are solely responsible for this situation,” says 58-year-old Yves, referring to peaceful protests at the end of the year and a campaign that resulted in little results. Turn the panels at the entrances of the venues upside down.
This organic wheat farmer does not hide his despair in the face of economic difficulties experienced by small and medium-sized farmers. “When I came to the end of the month, I had no net income left. “I live thanks to my wife’s salary.”Yves, who also suffers from the crisis in the organic sector, explains that inflation is under pressure. “They helped us do organic farming, but now the supply is greater than the demand,” he laments.
“For us, it’s a matter of survival,” Charlie says of a primary sector marked by huge income inequalities and high poverty. 18 percent of French farmers live below the poverty lineThe average of assets is 13%. “Beyond the major grain and wine producers, a significant portion of farmers also great difficulty making a living from your job”explains economist Maxime Combes, who is knowledgeable in this sector. According to this analyst, the south of France, where the protests began, is characterized by the presence of small and medium-sized farms.
Removal of diesel subsidy: “It was the last straw”
The instability of the sector has become more evident Increase in electricity, fuel and fertilizer costs Because of the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine. The price of diesel used by farmers has increased from 70 cents to 1.20 euros in the last two years. “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back Removal of tax deduction on diesel for farmers“, says Jean-Luc Granet, 69, referring to a measure adopted in the last budget that is being phased in this year until its final elimination in 2030. “The biggest problem is the Green Deal and its vision, which is clearly based on degrowth.” “This will force us to reduce our production at a time when imports have not stopped increasing,” said FNSEA president Arnaud Rousseau.
But in reality, the causes of anger turn out to be much more diverse and complex, beyond the common denominator of low income. Most of the villagers they condemn free trade agreements Problems with New Zealand or Chile, lack of harmonization with European standards (for example, much higher demand for pesticides in France than in Spain), or the repercussions of Ukraine’s possible entry into the EU. Some even remember the “contempt” shown by Emmanuel Macron’s Government in the face of mass protests against pension reform a year ago. “It would be too simplistic to attribute these protests to a rejection of environmental policies,” says Combes.
Unlike union strikes and the yellow vest rebellion, which was pacified with an iron fist, the Macronist Administration acts with great caution and a certain approval towards the peasants’ actions. He is aware of the popularity of the mobilizations and the profession, which, according to the survey published this Wednesday, is supported by 89 percent of the French public. “We will not block the barricades”, government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot said this Wednesday, promising measures in the coming days. While we await this political response, rural unrest threatens a new social explosion in Macron’s troubled France.