Hundreds of tractors, trucks and farm equipment blocked the main entry points into Paris this Monday in protest against the growing difficulties of the agricultural sector, which says it is “choked” by falling prices, bureaucracy, foreign competition and increasingly strict European and environmental regulations. .
The “siege” of the French capital, which could last several days, is the culmination of weeks of protests across France, as well as in other European countries including Belgium, Germany and Poland. President Emmanuel Macron’s government promised over the weekend to ease environmental regulations and reverse planned cuts to agricultural fuel subsidies, but that was not enough to deter protesters who blocked eight major highways leading into the French capital. The protest was peaceful, but more than 15,000 police were mobilized to prevent violence, including a union threat to block the Rungis market, which supplies much of the city.
On Monday afternoon, the government promised to announce new measures to help the sector “in the next 48 hours” and President Macron himself vowed to defend cuts to agricultural regulations in Brussels, including a controversial pledge to reserve 4% of farmland for farming. steam, which is one of the main protests of farmers.