PARIS (Reuters) – The president of the FNSEA, France’s leading agricultural union, once again called on the government on Friday for “very concrete actions” quickly in favor of farmers, who began to lift blockades on several highways the next day of the announcement of a new series of measures.
“We said that we were removing the blocking points but that we had to transform this anger into very concrete actions for farmers and we said, from next week, (to get) to work to make it credible and palpable in our farms what the simplification announced by the Prime Minister will be”, declared Arnaud Rousseau on BFM TV.
Welcoming “tangible progress” on the part of the government, the FNSEA and the Young Farmers’ Union (JA) advocated on Thursday “the suspension of blockages” which have paralyzed several roads in the country for days.
The Rural Coordination also called on Thursday to suspend the actions while the Confédération paysanne, the third agricultural organization in France, said “continue the mobilization” with the blocking of several purchasing centers and the Saint-Quentin-Fallavier toll in Isère .
“We wrote that we were giving ourselves until June to have a law because we know that a law cannot be done in 15 days but, obviously, if ultimately we were not considered or if all this was just a flash in the pan, we will start again,” warned Arnaud Rousseau for his part.
In images broadcast by BFM TV on Friday morning, farmers began to lift their blockade on the A6 motorway.
THE ENVIRONMENT, THE BIG LOSER?
“The blockages are lifting region by region with blocking points still remaining (…), but little by little, in the morning, many roadblocks will be lifted,” assured Jérôme Despey, first vice-president of the FNSEA , on franceinfo.
Blockages were still in progress in the morning, notably in Valence, according to the Drôme prefecture which reported on X (formerly Twitter) “strongly impacted” traffic.
Several motorway axes were still closed in Ile-de-France, according to Sytadin, who however indicates that the A4 motorway is no longer blocked.
Satisfying a number of demands from the FNSEA, the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, promised Thursday a “pause” in the implementation of the Ecophyto 2030 plan, which aims to reduce the use of pesticides by 50% by 2030 by compared to the period 2015-2017 in France.
This decision was criticized by environmental defenders and part of the political class. For Marine Tondelier, national secretary of the Ecologists, “the farmers have gained nothing”.
“For 15 years we have been promised a reduction in the use of pesticides and it has not happened. Fifteen years late for the health of the French, 15 years late for biodiversity,” she said. deplored on France 2.
“What a diversion from what is required on the ground! So we will continue to degrade the health of farmers, our soil and our environment. And we will continue to fatten the multinational pesticide manufacturers,” reacted Thursday on X the Confédération Paysanne, denouncing a “scandal”.
(Written by Zhifan Liu, edited by Sophie Louet)
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