The two main leaders of the French agricultural unions, Arnaud Rousseau and Arnaud Gaillot, announced this Thursday the lifting of the blockades on the highways that farmers had maintained for days to protest the situation in their sector and demand improvements.
The decision to suspend the blockades came shortly after the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, and the heads of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, and Agriculture, Marc Fesnau, explained another package of legislative, administrative, financial and fiscal measures to fulfill the wishes of farmers and ranchers. The union leaders, of the main organization, FSNEA and of the Young Farmers, want to give a vote of confidence to the Government, although they hope that the new promises will reach them in writing, in detail, and they will remain vigilant about their fulfillment.
Attal and his Cabinet colleagues said French food sovereignty should be written into a future law. They announced a package of 150 million euros of aid to livestock, as well as additional tax exemptions on inheritance of agricultural holdings, to facilitate the generational change, which is currently in danger.
Le Maire announced that massive controls will be carried out in supermarket chains and purchasing centers to guarantee that a law intended to guarantee a fair price to French producers is complied with. The Minister of Economy also said that the French origin of the food will be controlled, as much as such information appears on the label, so that there is no fraud, for example with chicken, half of which comes from outside the country. The fine for this type of fraud can reach 10% of the turnover of the company that commits it.
The suspension of the protest, which had already lasted several weeks, took place after groups of farmers reached the central market of the Paris region, Rungis, and a hundred were arrested for accessing the facilities. The presence of tractors has blocked very important communication routes for days, including the eight access highways to Paris. This Thursday the protest reached Brussels, in front of the community institutions, where there were skirmishes with the anti-riot forces.
