Jacques Serais // Photo credit: Xose Bouzas / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
A few days after the first measures announced to try to calm the anger of farmers, Gabriel Attal, accompanied by the Ministers of Economy, Agriculture and Ecological Transition, made new announcements. The Prime Minister changes gear and takes out the checkbook.
Around 1 p.m., the Prime Minister unveiled a new series of measures in favor of farmers. Gabriel Attal played the card of humility in the face of farmers’ anger: “Have we responded to the unease? Obviously, no. Have we made mistakes? Obviously yes. We must have lucidity to recognize it.”
“We will include the objective of sovereignty in the law”
An exercise in Mea culpa rare in politics, before unveiling a whole series of announcements ranging from the strengthening of Egalim laws, supposed to protect producers, to the raising of exemption thresholds on agricultural inheritances in order to facilitate the transfer of farms. As for the Ecophyto plan, which until now aimed to reduce the use of pesticides, it is simply put on hold.
Measures which are in addition to those already pronounced last week. In total, Bercy estimates their cost at 400 million euros. The price to pay for trying to regain a little sovereignty. The Prime Minister, moreover, placed great emphasis on this word: “We want to be sovereign, sovereign to cultivate, sovereign to harvest, to feed ourselves. We will include the objective of sovereignty in the law. We will enshrine, in the Rural Code , agriculture as a fundamental interest of the nation”.
Sovereignty as a new cardinal value. A certain idea of the French agricultural exception, now defended by the Prime Minister.