PFor the moment, the mobilization of French farmers has focused on Occitanie. With road blockages and demonstrations organized since Tuesday January 16 in the Toulouse region. This movement seems to have sparked real excitement within the government. To the point that Marc Fesneau, Minister of Agriculture, urgently announced, on Sunday January 21, the postponement of the presentation of the bill in favor of generational renewal in agriculture. A text which was to be on the menu of the council of ministers on Wednesday January 24, after several postponements. It is true that at the same time the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA), ready to push its advantage, has decided to orchestrate a national mobilization of its members.
“I can tell you that, starting today and throughout the week, and for as long as necessary, a certain number of actions will be carried out”, warned, Monday January 22, Arnaud Rousseau, the president of the FNSEA, on France Inter. He had already left the threat looming in January, with the International Agricultural Show in his sights. This Parisian meeting, which is to take place from February 24 to March 3, a traditional meeting place for politicians and professional agricultural organizations, encourages lobbying operations. Mr. Rousseau did not fail to show color. One of the key subjects he wishes to address is none other than water. The challenge for the FNSEA is to obtain, following the Varenne de l’eau, organized by the government, confirmation of the storage projects.
The first French agricultural union is also up against any attempt to impose objectives for reducing the use of pesticides, while the extension of the Ecophyto plan, whose ambition is this, is under discussion. He also calls for the reduction of environmental standards, campaigning for a simplification of procedures in order to encourage the expansion of livestock farms, particularly poultry and pigs. Without forgetting the battle to counter the project to redefine wetlands, desired by Europe to encourage biodiversity, but which could result in a reduction in cultivated land.
Already, in November 2023, the FNSEA, associated with the Young Farmers union, launched an action movement, with the slogan “We walk on our heads”. Signs have been returned to the entrances of many communities. Mr. Rousseau was pleased to have obtained from the government of Elisabeth Borne, following this mobilization, the removal of the increase in the tax for diffuse pollution which applies to the consumption of water and phytosanitary products. He had previously obtained the gradual increase in taxation on non-road diesel.
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