As the fight for better working and living conditions continues, farmers in France are threatening to block Paris from Monday. This will begin at 2 p.m. for an indefinite period of time, representatives of the young farmers’ union and the FNSEA union announced on Sunday. All main axes that lead into the metropolis should therefore be blocked. The two associations represent the majority of the profession at national level.
Farmers from the Lot-et-Garonne department in southwestern France want to move to the capital to block Rungis. Rungis is the wholesale market of Paris and the largest of its kind in the world. It is located around 13 kilometers south of the French metropolis and is a gigantic transshipment point for fish, meat, poultry, dairy and delicatessen products.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal made far-reaching promises of aid to farmers on Friday in the face of days of protests. These included, among other things, the withdrawal of taxation on agricultural diesel, emergency aid of 100 million euros for farmers and the organic sector hit by storms, aid for viticulture suffering from overproduction and the withdrawal of standards and regulations.
The prime minister has only taken into account a part of the 122 demands made to him, said the head of the FNSEA, France’s largest agricultural union, in an interview published in the newspaper “La Tribune Dimanche” on Sunday. Many topics were not addressed, explained Arnaud Rousseau.
On Sunday, Attal promised additional measures against disloyal competition from other countries during a visit to a farm in the Loire Valley.
