PARIS (Reuters) – Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the Agricultural Show on Saturday more than four hours behind the official program after dozens of angry farmers forced entry to the Porte de Versailles exhibition center .
At 1:31 p.m., the President of the Republic finally cut the ribbon to inaugurate the 60th edition of the Agricultural Show, under the boos and whistles of farmers who took over hall 1 of the exhibition center and in front of a large police presence .
Farmers forced the doors of the Agricultural Show on Saturday morning, chanting slogans calling for the resignation of Emmanuel Macron and faced CRS units deployed to restore calm, causing a delayed opening of the Show.
The public was allowed to enter the Agricultural Show after a 1.5 hour delay, with the exception of hall 1 where the animals and demonstrators are located.
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Earlier in the morning, Emmanuel Macron led a crisis meeting with certain ministers and representatives of agricultural unions in a room at the Agricultural Show.
“The first short-term objective is that the show must be held peacefully. I say this for all farmers: you are not helping any of your colleagues by breaking stands, you are not helping any of your colleagues by making the show impossible and in a way scaring families from coming,” declared the President of the Republic at the end of the meeting.
“We will not respond to this agricultural crisis in a few hours,” he also added during a press briefing which lasted around twenty minutes.
Emmanuel Macron declared that the agricultural bill, “in the process of being finalized”, will be presented on March 20 to the Council of Ministers.
“NOW IT’S ACTION”
The President of the Republic presented a list of measures to counter agricultural anger and said he wanted to recognize agriculture and food in the law “as a major general interest” and announced an “emergency cash plan” for agriculture.
He also said he wanted the establishment of a floor price to “guarantee agricultural income” and “not to give in to all the most predatory practices which are sacrificing our farmers and their income today”.
The head of state announced that a meeting with all agricultural unions will be held in three weeks at the Elysée.
Emmanuel Macron then launched an impromptu debate, initially planned before being canceled on Friday, with several farmers in a room located upstairs at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center, for almost two hours and in a lively but lively climate. soothed.
In shirt sleeves and accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau and his delegate minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, he said he wanted to favor dialogue over confrontation, before listening to the protesters’ grievances.
The latter exposed the precariousness of their profession, the suicides in their sector and demanded concrete and rapid answers.
“You have everything in your hands, you have everything in your bags (…) now, it’s action,” said a farmer to the head of state.
In front of a few dozen farmers, Emmanuel Macron reiterated his objectives: “assuming to produce”, “protecting” farmers and “renewing” to face the coming demographic transition in the profession.
“I will open the salon, calm or not calm. If conditions permit, I am ready to address your colleagues,” concluded Emmanuel Macron, followed by thanks and some applause from his interlocutors.
The Peasant Confederation said on its X account that it had refused to participate in a “communication operation” by the President of the Republic and denounced an “umpteenth masquerade”.
ELECTORAL MEETING
This climate of high tension at the Agricultural Show comes after several weeks of demonstrations by farmers, in France as in the rest of Europe.
Peasant anger will also resonate outside the Porte de Versailles exhibition center, warned the two main unions in the sector, the FNSEA and the Young Farmers (JA). Tractor processions are notably announced in the capital.
The numerous measures and gestures of appeasement agreed by the government were not enough to silence the demands.
This popular event, which attracted 615,000 visitors in 2023, is the occasion each year for a parade of political leaders who come to court a valuable electorate.
The prospect of the European elections next June reinforces the interest in the 2024 edition.
The French agricultural world is historically anchored to the center-right, but the National Rally (RN) is making progress within it.
The president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, is expected Sunday and Monday at the Salon. Eric Ciotti (Les Républicains) will go there on Monday with the heads of the European list François-Xavier Bellamy and Céline Imart. Edouard Philippe (Horizons) will succeed them on Tuesday and Thursday, then Laurent Wauquiez (LR) on Wednesday.
The head of the socialist list in the European elections, Raphaël Glucksmann, will pay a visit on Sunday.
They should meet the muse of the show, Oreillette, a five-year-old Normandy cow.
(Written by Reuters)
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