Farmers blocked one of France’s main motorways linking the French capital with the northern city of Lille, the Benelux and Britain on Friday, causing long traffic jams, the first major traffic disruption caused by the protests.
Farming unions have called for roadblocks in and around Paris on Friday to step up the pressure on the government which the farmers accuse of not helping them enough to cope with “low food prices and excessive regulation.” The roadblock on the A1 north of Paris leads to traffic jams of around 4 km in the morning, Reuters reported.
French media reported farmers had also set up first roadblocks on traffic axes in the Essonne department south of Paris in the early morning hours, while most protests were expected to start in the early afternoon. The government said it would announce first immediate measures aimed at taming the farmer outrage later on Friday with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal expected to speak in the afternoon.
‘Expect urgent measures’
The powerful FNSEA union demanded “immediate answers on pay”, urgent aid for sectors worst hit by the crisis and, in the long term, “a plan to reduce regulations”. Protest leaders said farmers would closely scrutinize measures expected Friday from the government in response to their demands before deciding on next steps. “The determination is total,” said Arnaud Rousseau, the FNSEA president. “We expect urgent measures.”
In Brussels, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen opened a discussion panel to try to put farming on a new footing, hoping to take into account some of the complaints raised by protesters around the 27-nation bloc. The strategic dialogue comes as campaigning for the June 6-9 EU parliamentary elections is picking up steam and the fate of the farm sector is expected to be a hot-button issue.
“We all agree that the challenges are, without any question, mounting, said von der Leyen, be it “competition from abroad, be it overregulation at home, be it climate change, or the loss of biodiversity, or be a demographic decline, just to name a few of the challenges. In recent weeks, farmers have staged protests in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania.
(With agency inputs)
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