Already early in the morning, dozens of tractors arrived on the capital's ring road, heading to Porte Saint-Cloud and planting in the central Place Vauban, very close to the Palace of the Invalids.
The action caused a traffic jam of at least 40 kilometers and was a warning to the executive that farmers are serious in their warnings that the 60th edition of the show is the time when their announcements and promises come true.
It will not be the only mobilization this Friday, as the unions plan to arrive in the afternoon with about 50 tractors near the Versailles Gate, where is the exhibition center where the Hall of Agriculture will take place, an international event, in which dozens of thousands of people take part every year.
President Emmanuel Macron will hold a meeting with union leaders in the sector tomorrow as part of the traditional forum, where he will try to calm the union's anger.
This week, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal explained in a press conference the three packages of measures presented by the government in the face of a movement that kept it in check with the closure of highways in the second half of January, demanding better remuneration, less bureaucracy and protection against unfair competition and inequalities in trade relations.
Attal on Wednesday pointed out that agriculture will be among the fundamental interests of the nation at the level of security issues, touching on issues such as strengthening legislation, exemption from contributions, simplifying procedures and combating unfair competition.
“We will not lie to them and we will not betray them,” he said at the time.
Organizations such as the National Federation of French Farmers' Unions (Fnsea), the Farmers' Association and the Young Farmers acknowledged the progress but insisted that it was time to put the announcements and proposals into action.
In this sense, they insisted that the Paris Agricultural Salon, in the presence of the Head of State, was an opportunity to meet the demands or at least initiate the reactions.
jha/wmr