The majority of French agricultural unions called this Thursday to suspend road blockades in the country, the French agency AFP reported.
“The movement does not stop, it transforms,” Arnaud Rousseau, president of the National Federation of Agricultural Unions (FNSEA), said at a press conference.
Rousseau warned that there will be new mobilizations if Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s statements are not implemented within 15 days and if they do not come into force in June, the Spanish agency EFE reported.
“We have been heard on a number of issues and we have made tangible progress,” including emergency measures to provide financial support to struggling farmers and wine producers, he said.
The president of the young farmers’ association, Arnaud Guyot, explained that the request to “lift the blockade and move to a new course of action” was made after consultation with the masses and taking into account the commitments made by Attalus.
“We call on our members to lift the blockade,” Guyot said along with Rousseau, as quoted by the US news agency AP.
The French Prime Minister announced today that the government will provide €150 million “starting this year and on an ongoing basis” to ease the financial and social burden of farmers and livestock farmers.
Attal announced the measures after about two weeks of protests by thousands of farmers in Frank, accompanied by the blockade of many roads in the country.
In recent days, protests have spread to other countries including Greece, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Romania, Spain and Portugal.
Attal’s intervention comes as hundreds of farmers on heavy tractors wreak havoc in Brussels, demanding help from the European Union (EU) to combat rising prices and bureaucracy.
“The question now being asked across Europe is: does our agriculture have a future? Of course the answer is yes,” Attal said.
On blocked roads in France, protesters watched the head of government’s speech through their smartphones and televisions.
Eight highways were blocked on the outskirts of Paris this morning with police present, according to the AP.
Attal promised there would be no new pesticide ban “without a solution” and said pesticides allowed in other EU countries would not be banned in France.
The statement came in response to a request from French farmers who condemned stricter regulation in France than in neighboring countries.
Attal also announced that France will now ban the import of fruits and vegetables from third countries treated with thiacloprid, an insecticide banned in the EU.
He said France would propose creating a “European control force” to combat fraud, especially regarding health rules.
It will also crack down on food imports that contravene European and French health standards, the prime minister said.
Attal also confirmed that France will continue to oppose the signing of a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur.