PARIS (Reuters) – Emmanuel Macron called on Tuesday not to blame the agricultural crisis “on Europe” as he answered a question about peasant discontent during a press conference in Sweden, where he went on a state visit.
“It would be easy to blame everything on Europe,” declared the French president.
“Without CAP (common agricultural policy, editor’s note), our farmers would have no income,” he added.
Emmanuel Macron, who will go to Brussels on Thursday for an extraordinary European summit, also said he wanted “clarity” on the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, called into question by farmers who have been protesting for more than a week in particular against non-European competition.
“We hope that the agreement, as it is in place, will not be signed,” declared the head of state.
Emmanuel Macron also said he wanted “clear measures” on imports from Ukraine – another grievance of French farmers – “because today we have things in volume and quality that are destabilizing the European market”.
The Head of State also wants “flexibilities” on the issue of fallow land imposed by the EU.
In order to benefit from European aid, farmers are required to set aside around 4% of their agricultural land fallow.
An EU spokesperson said on Tuesday that the European Commission would propose an exception to the rules on this issue.
(Written by Nicolas Delame and Kate Entringer, with Piotr Lipinski, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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