“We continue to sit and we wait for these measures before leaving” the blocking points, said Véronique Le Floc’h, president of the union, after an hour and a half exchange with the Prime Minister. Farmers are protesting in particular against financial charges and environmental standards considered too heavy.
The representative of Rural Coordination, among other things, called for a “step back” on non-road diesel (NGR), for which farmers benefit from reduced taxation, but which the government has called into question. She also asked for the elimination of inheritance fees for the transfer of farms “within the family”.
“Farmers are not going to be satisfied with communication announcements”
The general secretary of the union, Christian Convers, who found the head of government “really attentive”, again called for “a moratorium” of one year on the sanctions associated with the controls as well as a “white year” for farmers’ loans. Gabriel Attal “understood well that the first problem on the ground was that of cash flow and that of the weight represented by standards”, reported Véronique Le Floc’h.
“Farmers are not going to be satisfied with communication announcements (…) Now we need concrete decisions,” warned Christian Convers. “Otherwise the farmers will not stop there. There is a sense of despair that has really set in.”
While the president of the Rural Coordination had created controversy by asserting on Saturday on France Inter that “at the agricultural level, if everyone had the same speech as (the National Rally), we could move in the right direction”, her general secretary assured Tuesday that the union was “not affiliated with a political party”.