Emmanuel Macron finally debated for two hours with farmers
The debate ultimately took place: despite the high tensions upon his arrival, Emmanuel Macron met on Saturday morning, during an improvised exchange, farmers and representatives of the various trade union organizations at the Agricultural Show, highlighting before his desire to “dialogue”. “Where in Europe do you have a head of state or a head of government who dialogues with farmers and who makes commitments like that? »he asked in particular, surrounded by the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, and his delegate minister, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
For two hours, leaning on a standing table, suit jacket fallen off, the president listened to the grievances of the farmers grouped around him. Noting the questions on a sheet of paper, sometimes trying with difficulty to answer between the outbursts and protests, Mr. Macron was notably questioned pell-mell on the consequences of the war in Ukraine, administrative simplification, the ecology experienced as “punitive” by certain farmers or even the remuneration of farmers.
“The France farm, it remains strong, it produces (…) It’s wrong to say that she’s having a hard time.”he asserted, urging not to “not paint a catastrophic portrait of our agriculture”. The President of the Republic recalled his “three objectives” to respond to the agricultural crisis : “we must assume responsibility for producing”; “the protection of our soils, [de] our crops, farmers and consumers » ; “to be able to cope with the demographic transition with 200,000 young people expected to arrive in the next five to ten years”.
He also confirmed the establishment of a floor price “sector by sector”. “There will be a minimum price, a floor price, below which the processor cannot buy and the distributor cannot sell”he promised. “There was an immediate reaction from the government”he also defended, recalling that “sixty-two measures have been identified, they have all been launched”.