Angry French and Spanish farmers block the Biriatou toll booth on the French-Spanish border on March 7, 2024 (AFP/ANDER GILLENEA)
Around 300 French and Spanish farmers blocked the Biriatou border toll in the Basque Country with their tractors on Thursday, launching an “ultimatum” to the European Union (EU) for “totally tax-free production energy”.
Gathered since midday at the toll gate on both sides of the border, after snail-like operations, the farmers delivered their common demand, without brandishing union banners.
They give the EU until June 1 to achieve a “zero tax” on gas, electricity, diesel and even GNR (non-road diesel). “They have two months to find a solution, we will go back to work on our farms but we will be there if necessary at the beginning of June,” says Thierry, a non-unionized cattle breeder in the Basque Country.
The tractors, on which slogans like “More income” or “Farmer, child we dream, adult we die”, were displayed on the highway for several hours, leaving one lane of traffic open, before returning in snail operation planned for late afternoon.
“This is the first time we have mobilized together and probably not the last,” commented Joseba Pagadizabal, a Spanish farmer.
Farmers in several European countries – in France, Spain, Germany, Greece and even Poland – have mobilized massively for weeks or continue to do so, protesting in particular against competition that they consider unfair on the part of countries outside the European Union, which are therefore not subject to the same rules, and against a bureaucracy and standards that they consider too heavy.
Farmers drive towards the Franco-Spanish border to block the Biriatou border toll, March 7, 2024 (AFP/ANDER GILLENEA)
They also denounce purchase prices that are too low for their production within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and a lack of aid for the sector.
In France, the head of the majority agricultural union FNSEA indicated on Sunday that farmers were now waiting for “very concrete achievements” after the government’s promises, warning against new “actions on the ground”.
© 2024 AFP
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