Romain Rouillard / Photo credit: RAMON VAN FLYMEN / ANP MAG / ANP VIA AFP
The demands are numerous and the discomfort is deep within the profession. But among the various reasons for this great fed-up among farmers, whose mobilization is gaining strength, the standards imposed on them come back insistently. An obstacle to the exercise of their profession, they say, to which is added the importation of foreign products, less expensive in supermarkets, but above all not subject to these famous regulations.
Standards in parts erected from Brussels. In particular through the European “green pact”, designed to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 on the Old Continent, one of the key texts of which was voted on last July. And agriculture is one of the targeted sectors. As a result, farmers will have to apply a certain number of regulations, ranging from banning several pesticides, to reducing the use of chemical fertilizers, to increasing the number of lands devoted to Organic Agriculture. A vast package of standards of which Renaissance MEP Pascal Canfin, 49, was one of the main architects, in his capacity as president of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament.
A Rally in front of the European Parliament in Brussels
The future head of LR’s European list, François-Xavier Bellamy, denounced on Wednesday the contradictions of the presidential camp which claims to defend farmers in Paris “and does the opposite in Brussels”. Marc Fesneau himself has displayed a hint of skepticism about the Green Deal. “No one has questioned enough about the compatibility between its environmental requirements and France’s productive capacities,” declared the Minister of Agriculture, in comments reported by Public Senate. On Wednesday, more than a hundred farmers gathered in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, accompanied by their mascot: a model cow in the colors of the European Union, hanging from a tractor.
A regular at the European Parliament, where he was elected for the first time in 2009, Pascal Canfin also headed the environmental organization WWF France. Member of Europe Écologie Les Verts until 2015, he then converted to macronism and appeared in second position on the Renaissance list, led by Nathalie Loiseau, during the last European elections. Today, he says he “understands” the farmers’ anger. Regarding the Green Deal, he argues that “none of the legislation concerning agriculture, nor the law on pesticides, nor that on the restoration of nature, has yet come into force. The only thing that is entry into force, it is the reform of the common agricultural policy and it turns out that the LR and the RN voted for it!”, he defends himself in comments reported by Le Figaro.
The MEP also believes that these standards should not weigh on farmers, but rather “on the chain from large cooperatives to large-scale distribution”. “We must transfer money to finance the agricultural transition. It is a proposal that I am supporting and that Ursula von der Leyen has bought into. It will most likely be implemented in the next mandate,” adds -he. Contacted by Europe 1, Pascal Canfin did not respond to our requests.