French farmers brought tractors into central Paris on Friday, putting additional pressure on President Emmanuel Macron, who promised them a meeting to discuss their concerns but then canceled it.
Farmers have joined a Europe-wide movement against environmental regulations and competition from low-cost imports from outside the European Union, as well as to protest low wages.
They have requested that the government respond by Saturday, when the popular national agricultural exposition, the Salon de l’Agriculture, begins in Paris.
“The idea was to add a little bit of pressure before the fair opens”, said Damien Greffin, a cereal farmer and FNSEA’s Paris region chief.
French farmers protested nationally last month until the government promised adjustments.
But Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s new measures revealed Wednesday failed to appease protesters, and all eyes are now on Macron, who is set to visit the annual agriculture exhibition on Saturday.
On Thursday, Macron announced that he would hold a debate there with all actors in the agriculture world to outline the future of the sector.
However, the project got off to a rocky start when Macron included the radical ecology group Soulevements de la Terre (Uprisings of the Earth), which the interior minister recently attempted to outlaw after labeling them eco-terrorists.
Following complaints from farming unions, opposition lawmakers, and even members of the administration, the Soulevements group was denied entry, with Macron’s office claiming an error.
But, the damage had been done, with FNSEA president Arnaud Rousseau labeling Macron’s effort cynical and stating that he would not be a part of something that does not allow dialogue in good conditions.
Faced with a boycott call, Macron postponed the event altogether, said to his office, adding that he would instead speak with farmers’ unions before opening the fair on Saturday.
Attal promised Wednesday to elevate agriculture to the status of a fundamental national interest, detailing a plan to address farmers’ concerns.
However, farmers have continued to block highways, set fire to tires, and lay siege to supermarkets, claiming they require more.
Authorities are finding the farmers’ movement hard to control in some parts of the country, according to a police source.
On Friday morning, about thirty tractors drove into the centre of Paris to reach Les Invalides, an esplanade close to the French parliament. They began to leave in the afternoon, as directed by the authorities.
A second truckload entered Paris later and camped near the agriculture fair site in the capital’s southwest.
The FNSEA admitted that this year’s fair, a major yearly event for farmers, the public, and politicians, will be eminently political, but also hoped to be a time of celebration.
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