PARIS: As tractors stopped major roadways out of Paris on Monday as nationwide farmer demonstrations grew more intense, France announced that it would push to loosen European Union environmental laws on fallow farmland this week.
On Friday, the French government abandoned its intentions to progressively cut back on state subsidies for agricultural diesel and made environmental standards more lax. However, farmer organizations vowed to increase their pressure, saying that this was insufficient.
According to French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau, President Emmanuel Macron will press for more pro-farming policies during this week’s European Union leaders’ conference in Brussels to address complaints that many farmers in the bloc have.
Fesenau announced that he would visit Brussels this week as well in an effort to sooth EU restrictions pertaining to agricultural land that must be fallow in accordance with new green regulations.
Fesneau responded “this week” when asked on France 2 TV when he hoped to come to a consensus with the European Commission over the rules’ review, which French farmers have expressed could negatively impact their companies.
To be eligible for EU subsidies, farmers must fulfill a number of requirements, one of which is allocating 4% of their land to “non-productive” regions so that the environment can heal. One way to achieve it is to leave the ground barren.
An EU source told Reuters that “the Commission is looking at different options that might respond to some of the concerns expressed by farmers.” The official declined to comment on whether or not these options include changing the regulations pertaining to fallow land.
About 30 kilometers (18 miles) out from the center of Paris, farmers would block all main roadways, according to the leader of the largest farming organization in France.
The leader of the farmers’ organization FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, stated on RTL radio that “what we have understood is that the message is not getting through as long as the protest is far from Paris.”
Farmers would continue their action throughout France, according to Rousseau, “with the aim to get emergency measures about the core of our business.” Rousseau also mentioned that he was scheduled to meet with French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Monday.
Angry farmers also caused traffic disruptions in Brussels on the ring road surrounding the Belgian capital, and about twelve tractors managed to get through to Brussels’ EU region, where they noisily honked.
Frustrated farmers halted roughly five trucks carrying Spanish produce and disposed of it close to the Colruyt distribution center, which is located close to Brussels, according to Belgian media.
Gerald Darmanin, the interior minister of France, declared over the weekend that if French farmers stopped trucks transporting Spanish goods, the police would step in.
Police vans managed traffic at the Rungis wholesale food market in Paris after some people demanded that food shipments be stopped from reaching Paris.
Disabling Rungis is not a viable solution. “We wish to have the honor of feeding the French people, not starve them,” Rousseau remarked.
