“Our determination is absolute, we do not want to let the French starve and we want to feed them,” the president of the National Federation of French Farmers' Unions (Fnsea), Arnaud Rousseau, the sector's main union and one of the protest organizers, said it's been a dozen days already.
The leader told the Cnews network that negotiations with the executive continue, after a three-hour meeting last night with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, which was also attended by leaders of the Young Farmers (JA), another important union in the field. in the country.
The focus of the demands is on better salaries, help against the effects of inflation, the fight against unfair competition in agricultural products and moratoria or easing of European environmental standards, which they consider to be very strict.
Official sources estimated yesterday that 10,000 participants with five thousand tractors were involved in blockades and other pressure operations.
The day before, government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot explained that new measures would be reported this Tuesday, after the movement described the package announced by Attal last Friday as inadequate.
Then the Prime Minister offered 50 million euros of support for the Bio subsidiary, the suspension of the increase in fuel prices for tractors, the simplification of procedures and the reiteration that France would not support the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur.
One of the expectations of this day is to see what will happen to the strategic international market of Rungis, located a dozen kilometers from this capital and which groups of farmers want to block despite the government's warning not to allow it.
Dozens of tractors are on their way to the facility – one of the largest of its kind in the world – which supplies Paris and other departments with food, while police and gendarmes are deployed, supported by light armored vehicles.
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