The leaders of the two majority agricultural unions, the FNSEA and the Young Farmers (JA), said they were waiting for “clear decisions” from Emmanuel Macron who received them Tuesday afternoon at the Élysée, four days before the opening of the Agricultural show in Paris.
“We need to know what the President of the Republic wants to do with French agriculture”
The Head of State is due to receive at 3:00 p.m. the president of the Young Farmers, Arnaud Gaillot, then at 4:00 p.m. that of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, two allied and largely majority unions, a month after the start of a long wave of demonstrations. “It’s a meeting where we want to tell the President of the Republic that everything that has happened since the fall must take shape now with clear decisions because the agricultural world no longer wants to wait “, declared Arnaud Rousseau on France 2.
“We need the President of the Republic to hear what farmers are angry about and have to say to him,” added the leader of the FNSEA, who had called in early February to suspend actions, after two weeks of agricultural crisis and several government announcements. “We now need, for the rest of his term of office and beyond, to know what the President of the Republic wants to do with French agriculture,” he stressed.
“The living room must not be taken hostage”
The president of the Young Farmers Arnaud Gaillot called on TF1 to “maintain” the pressure on the government until the Agricultural Show. “We cannot have a ‘normal’ Agricultural Show as if nothing had happened in recent weeks and everything was going well,” he declared. The boss of the JA, however, called for “respecting the show”.
“The show must not be taken hostage, there must be no damage to the show because it is also our showcase for agriculture and we must allow citizens to come and see the agriculture there. has in this country,” he added.
The Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau received Arnaud Rousseau last evening and will meet the leaders of the two majority unions on several occasions before the Show. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal will hold a press conference dedicated to the agricultural crisis on Wednesday morning, before the Council of Ministers.