PARIS (Reuters) – The president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, warned Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Friday against discontent in the agricultural world and called for a “state of emergency” on the subject.
“The anger of our farmers cannot go unanswered (…). We must declare a state of agricultural emergency and establish economic patriotism to protect our farmers,” declared the far-right leader, head of list for the European elections, after a meeting with the head of government in Matignon.
“The Prime Minister listened to me, he was Republican, sometimes even courteous, and I alerted him to what seemed to me to be the concerns today of many of our fellow citizens,” said Jordan Bardella, who debated several times in recent months with Gabriel Attal, appointed last week as head of government.
The Prime Minister is increasing his meetings with social partners and political leaders as part of the preparation of his general policy speech scheduled for January 30 at the National Assembly.
“Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister will be judged not by what he is but by what he does,” stressed Jordan Bardella to Matignon.
The president of the RN is expected on Saturday in Gironde on the theme of agriculture, which he makes one of the priorities of his European campaign. He will visit a breeding farm in Haut-Médoc, his entourage said.
For the June 9 elections, the polls give the National Rally a lead of around ten points over Emmanuel Macron’s camp.
“The French will have to express themselves on the government’s policy, they will have to sanction Macron’s Europe,” said Jordan Bardella in response to a question about the age of the new Prime Minister.
According to a government source, Emmanuel Macron spoke on Wednesday in the Council of Ministers about the anger of farmers, which is also expressed in other European countries such as Germany and the Netherlands.
“Immigration and the environment are the two subjects of the European elections and each time it is ‘stop or go’,” another government source told Reuters.
“Farmers are on the front line in the fight against climate change and they suffer from the lack of systematization of ‘mirror’ clauses, which puts them at a disadvantage compared to other countries,” she added.
The FNSEA, the main French agricultural union, plans to launch actions between now and the Salon de l’Agriculture, which begins at the end of February in Paris.
Farmers, who are protesting in particular against the multiplication of standards and the differences in treatment compared to other non-European countries, have launched for several weeks an operation called “We walk on our heads” which consists of turning over the signs of signage at the entrance and exit of communities.
(Report by Elizabeth Pineau and Blandine Hénault, edited by Sophie Louet)
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