A long wait, proportional to the disappointment. Among the panel of 120 measures listed by the president of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, and his alter ego of Young Farmers, Arnaud Gaillet, with the services of Gabriel Attal, the latter came to announce only 10 immediate simplification measures. The most symbolic concerns the continuation of the zero-rating of non-road diesel. “These are a lot of small measures, we need fundamental changes that go through the law,” reacts Luc Mesba, president of the FNSEA in Haute-Garonne. The GNR is a small advance of 15 cents that we were already seeing. We will consult locally and we will see at the national level if we continue the movement.
Closer to Paris the disappointment is also great. “The government only partially heard us. Not all of our demands were met. The movement will gain momentum, says Samuel Vandaele, operator in Pécy and secretary general of the FNSEA in Seine-et-Marne. We are ready to converge this weekend on strategic points, very close to Paris, to settle there in the long term with our tractors and engage in a standoff with the authorities. We are awaiting instructions from our staff.”
“This is too confusing a speech, there are no measures on breeding, we are not going to give up and we are maintaining the dams in Brittany,” warns a union official from the west of France. There are also very few measures concerning cereal growers. We are waiting for something very concrete.”
In Agen, the yellow hats of Rural Coordination went to meet the prefect to once again express their grievances. “The fact that Gabriel Attal gave the prefect the power to resolve some of our problems, such as those concerning controls with the French Biodiversity Office, is a good thing,” confides Patrick Frankein, member of the CR in Lot- et-Garonne. We will be able to move forward on certain issues. But the count is far from being reached. We will continue our mobilization.” Tractors continued to dump waste in front of the Agen prefecture on Friday evening to express their anger tinged with despair.
The only one to be really satisfied with these announcements seems to be Jérôme Bayle, the farmer who started it all at a blockage point on the A64 motorway southwest of Toulouse, more than a week ago. “Gabriel Attal came to Occitanie, it’s very good. He kept his word, he responded to our three measures: GNR, MHE and water. I am going to call for the A64 roadblock to be lifted, confirms Jérôme Bayle on BFMTV. Perhaps the other French farmers are not happy and I would understand if they maintain the pressure, but I am going to ask not to continue this blockade. To see if, this time again, he will be followed by his base.
Gabriel Attal also announced to farmers that three large agri-food companies would be sanctioned for non-compliance with EGalim regulations. These are two companies from the Bigard meat group and a Breton dairy, that of Saint-Malo.
