© Abdul Saboor/ReutersFrench farmers use their tractors to block the A1 highway as they protest over price pressures, taxes and green regulation, in Chamant, near Paris, France, on Jan. 26, 2024.
French farmers blocked one of the main motorways linking Paris with the northern city of Lille and Belgium on Friday, causing lengthy traffic jams as part of nationwide protests over low food prices and excessive bureaucracy.
Unions have called for the roadblocks in and around Paris to increase pressure on Prime Minister Gabriel Attal's government, which the farmers accuse of not doing enough to help them.
"We will go right into Paris to highlight our rage, our grievances," said farmer Matteo Legrand.
The Paris region branch of the farmers' FNSEA union plans to set up 11 roadblocks on the main commuter axes around Paris, including the A6, A10, and A13 highways, according to a planning document seen by Reuters.
Mr. Attal's office said he would make a speech addressing the farmers' concerns at around 1500 GMT in a mountain village near the Spanish border, some 800 km (500 miles) from Paris.
Scrambling to ease tensions, the finance and farm ministers discussed with food industry officials on Friday fair prices for produce — a 'number one priority' for farmers who say they are suffering from the government's drive to lower consumer prices.
"The central issue is the farmers' revenue," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said after the meeting, adding that the government would "double down" on enforcing a law aimed at guaranteeing fair prices for farmers.
Mr. Le Maire has previously spent months pressuring food giants like Carrefour and Danone to lower their prices after a phase of high inflation, thereby earning the ire of farmers.
But on Friday he vowed to be "pitiless" towards the food company giants and supermarkets to help ensure adequate financial compensation for agricultural producers.
Many farmers in France, the European Union's biggest agricultural producer, say they face increasing pressure from retailers to cut their prices and that this threatens their livelihoods.
Among other grievances, farm unions also cite a government tax on tractor fuel, cheap imports of foreign food, access to water, excessive red tape, and environmental rules.
France has witnessed two weeks of protests in rural regions while other European countries including Germany and Poland have also seen demonstrations by farmers angry over eroding living standards.
Comment: Farmers' incomes have long been disproportionate to their work and the government is making it even more difficult for them to maintain their farms with this misguided attempt to hide out-of-control inflation. More and more smaller businesses are being forced to give up their farms, many of which have existed for generations. It remains to be seen whether the "ruthlessness" of ONE politician towards the world's leading food industry chains will change anything. Farmers shouldn't be taking the hit for politician's bad decisions.
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