A blockade of French farmers called for by the industry’s main unions threatens to paralyze Paris this Monday, with authorities mobilizing large-scale security forces to minimize the impact of the protest.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Sunday asked security forces to implement an “important protective mechanism” to ban farmers from “any entry into Paris.”
“The position remains the same: the police must act with great moderation” and intervene only “as a last resort” if the integrity of people is at risk or in the event of serious damage to buildings, the Interior Ministry explained. This was reported by Agence France Presse (AFP).
The mobilization of farmers in France is aimed primarily at denouncing falling incomes, low pensions, administrative difficulties, rising standards and foreign competition.
The main agricultural unions had earlier said they intended to carry out an “indefinite siege of the capital” starting at noon on Monday, the start of an “all hazards week”.
The president of the main agricultural union, the National Federation of Unions of Agricultural Operators (FNSEA), Arnaud Rousseau this Sunday called on farmers to “be calm and determined.”
Several roads were blocked on Friday and Saturday due to protests, even as the government unveiled emergency measures including a tax exemption on agricultural diesel, a commitment to negotiate in Brussels to end the obligation to leave 4% of land fallow and accelerating payments to within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), of which France is the main beneficiary, 9 billion euros per year.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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