Hundreds of tractors are blocking highways and access to cities, a level of pressure that is increasing daily after the closure of the A64 route linking the southern cities of Toulouse and Bayonne (French Basque Country) began on Thursday last week.
Farmers' grievances include low wages, the impact of inflation on their work and lives, what they describe as very strict European environmental standards and the rise in fuel prices, which is why they are demanding fiscal support from the government.
They also call for a moratorium on the ban on pesticides, in particular the plan to reduce their use by half by 2030, limits on water use and “repressive” controls by the French Biodiversity Office.
The blockades are increasing and it is reported that almost all accesses to the southern city of Nîmes are blocked by tractors, as in Lyon, while Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Rennes, Toulouse and other major cities register the actions of farmers and announce who Paris is doing has its attractions.
The president of the National Confederation of Peasants' Unions of France, Arnaud Rousseau, announced that by Friday 85 of the 96 metropolitan departments will be the scene of measures, without ruling out that they will reach this capital.
Both President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal have promised answers to the unrest in the country, some of which are expected to be announced today.
Attal meets this Thursday with the Ministers of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, and Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, to analyze the crisis.
jf/wmr