French Farmers Block Motorway in Protest Over Low Food Prices and Bureaucracy
Paris, France – In a nationwide protest against low food prices and excessive bureaucracy, French farmers blocked one of the main motorways linking Paris with the northern city of Lille and Belgium on Friday. The roadblocks, organized by unions, were intended to increase pressure on Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s government, which the farmers accuse of not doing enough to support them.
“We will go right into Paris to highlight our rage, our grievances,” said farmer Matteo Legrand.
The Paris region branch of the farmers’ FNSEA union planned to set up 11 roadblocks on major commuter axes around Paris, including the A6, A10, and A13 highways.
To address the farmers’ concerns, Prime Minister Attal’s office announced that he would make a speech in a mountain village near the Spanish border, some 800 km (500 miles) from Paris.
In an effort to ease tensions, the finance and farm ministers held discussions with food industry officials on fair prices for produce. The farmers consider fair prices to be their top priority and claim that they are suffering due to the government’s drive to lower consumer prices.
“The central issue is the farmers’ revenue,” said Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire after the meeting. He stated that the government would enforce a law aimed at guaranteeing fair prices for farmers.
Previously, Minister Le Maire had pressured food giants like Carrefour and Danone to lower their prices after a period of high inflation, which angered farmers. However, on Friday, he pledged to be “pitiless” towards food company giants and supermarkets in order to ensure adequate financial compensation for agricultural producers.
Many farmers in France, the largest agricultural producer in the European Union, claim that they face increasing pressure from retailers to reduce their prices, which threatens their livelihoods. In addition to low food prices, farm unions also cite grievances such as a government tax on tractor fuel, cheap imports of foreign food, limited access to water, excessive red tape, and environmental regulations.
France has witnessed two weeks of protests in rural regions, while other European countries, including Germany and Poland, have also seen demonstrations by farmers protesting against declining living standards.
