The fed up has not gone away. Less than a year after the farmers’ revolt, which kept the country in suspense for several weeks, the majority unions called on Tuesday for a new national mobilization from mid-November.
This call comes against the backdrop of negotiations for an EU-Mercosur free trade agreement and ongoing mobilizations in several departments, according to the unions.
The majority agricultural union alliance formed by the FNSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs (JA), which notably organized highway blockades at the start of the year, has decided on “a national action which will take effect from mid-November », declared the president of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, during a press conference, without giving a precise date.
His counterpart from the Young Farmers, Pierrick Horel, estimated that this mobilization could serve to “put a little bit of pressure back into the tube to achieve what we are asking for”.
These groups intend in particular to obtain “clarity” on their request for loans guaranteed by the State, at reduced rates, for farmers short of cash.
But the subject that “broke the camel’s back”, according to Pierrick Horel, is the fear of agricultural organizations to see discussions on a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia ) approach a conclusion.
“The agreement would open the door to 99,000 tonnes of beef, 180,000 tonnes of poultry meat, the equivalent of 3.4 million tonnes of corn, 180,000 tonnes of sugar”, the two unions were alarmed on October 18, in a press release.
The text pointed out a “lack of reciprocity regarding production conditions” on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, calling on Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Michel Barnier to “definitively end” the discussions.
Last week, the Head of State once again repeated that in his eyes the agreement with Mercosur was not acceptable “as it stands”.
On Tuesday, in a joint press release, seven European agricultural organizations described as “provocative” the idea of a compensation fund for farmers, which the European Commission is currently working on according to the media Politico.
In France, the situation on the ground is potentially more explosive than a year ago. After a campaign marked by almost incessant rains, the country experienced its worst wheat harvest in 40 years, considerable losses in the vineyards, a resurgence of animal epidemics and winter wheat sowings could be threatened if the soils remain waterlogged.
The unions have issued “warnings” in recent weeks, saying they are ready to return to the streets, while refusing to push for one-upmanship as their professional elections loom at the end of January.
These ballots will determine their respective weight within the chambers of agriculture, today largely dominated by the FNSEA-JA alliance, ahead of the Rural Coordination and the Peasant Confederation.
A source at the FNSEA remarked to AFP last week that the regional federations were “tingling” about going back to demonstrations.
But, before “pressing the button” for national mobilization according to the expression of another source, the national federation weighed its chances of obtaining new commitments within a constrained budgetary framework, without alienating global goodwill. of the French with regard to the mobilizations of farmers.
Actions by farmers have been observed in recent days in Occitania, where the protest movement started last winter.
Some 200 farmers placed road signs in front of the Ariège prefecture on Monday evening, while around sixty farmers dumped sheep’s wool, bales of hay and straw during the night from Friday to Saturday. in front of several state buildings in Auch, in Gers.
