Tariffs: war declared between Europe and the United States
Washington is threatening to tax European, and therefore French, wines and spirits by up to 200% in retaliation for Brussels’ measures.
Washington is threatening to tax European, and therefore French, wines and spirits by up to 200% in retaliation for Brussels’ measures.
Pascal Deshayes, President of the Coordination Rurale de Meurthe-et-Moselle, explains the reasons behind French farmers’ bloodbath: drought, floods, crop failures, epizootic diseases, unfair competition from foreign producers, and insane middlemen’s margins. “60% of farms have no cash flow”, he says. Interview.
Farmers are expressing their anger in Brussels on the sidelines of the meeting of the 27 EU agriculture ministers. Hundreds of tractors invaded the streets of the European quarter. Clashes broke out with the police.
The French President was greeted by jeers and whistles at the Parc des expositions at Porte de Versailles. He cut the inaugural ribbon 5 hours late after debating with union representatives.
The tractors in the streets of Paris bear witness to the high level of anger among farmers on the eve of the opening of the 60ᵉ Salon de l’Agriculture. The FNSEA declines the French president’s invitation to a debate in the presence of Soulèvements de la Terre.
Just a few days before the Paris Agricultural Show (February 24 to March 3, 2024), French farmers are threatening further action. Their colleagues in several European countries are also at war with Brussels.
With less than 5 months to go before the European elections (June 9) and the Olympic Games (July 26-August 11), all the indicators are red: debt, recession, unemployment. The social climate is stormy. The political atmosphere is unbreathable. Can we still avoid a social explosion?
It’s hard to understand the position of the FNSEA, which called for a meeting at the capital’s headquarters on Monday, when you know that its leaders are close to the government. Like Arnaud Rousseau, head of a multinational food company…
While 20% of France’s farmers are wealthy and 20% make a decent living from their work, around 60% are experiencing serious difficulties, mainly due to unfair competition from third countries. The profession is recording two suicides a day!
It’s hard to imagine the extent to which farmers are monitored in their daily work: by satellite, by helicopter, by inspections. Edifying testimony from Jean-Luc Guérard, from Giscourt, in Meurthe-et-Moselle.
Farmers in particular are protesting against the inflation of standards affecting their sector. They are not the only ones who are fed up with the overflow of laws and decrees that overwhelm us.
After Germany, Poland, Romania and the Netherlands, French farmers are blocking roads in the South-West. Their protest movement could spread to other regions, leading to further mobilizations.