Tractors have returned to the streets of Paris in protest against what they consider a "betrayal" in the processing of the agricultural bill in the National Assembly. Farmers found unexpected allies along the way: taxi drivers, who honked in a sign of solidarity after several days of mobilizations and traffic blockades due to negotiations on the "fare reform" in the sector.
"The National Assembly against French agriculture", read a banner displayed among the parked tractors early Monday morning in front of the Parliament building, in a "remake" of the 2024 protests that sparked a chain reaction across Europe.
"We can sleep in our tractors, we did it a year ago", chanted the farmers as the deputies arrived, with a large deployment of loudspeakers and under intense police presence.
After obtaining a series of commitments following months of protests and "tractor protests," a sense of injustice and distrust has permeated among the farmers during the processing of the bill presented by senators Laurent Duplomb and Franck Menonville, which has undergone up to 3,500 amendments during parliamentary processing.
Farmers believe that the expansion of farms has been facilitated, that access to plant protection products has been improperly regulated, and that measures regarding water storage have been softened (the controversial "large water reservoirs" that have sparked protests from small producers and environmentalists). The agreement between the EU and Mercosur that opens the French market to agricultural and meat products from Latin America has also become a new point of contention.
"Our goal is not to block the country, but to alert to the danger facing our agriculture," declared Arnaud Rousseau, president of the National Federation of Farmers' Unions of France (Fnsea), during the "tractor protest" in front of the National Assembly. "Our productions are at risk, there is great uncertainty in the sector, and farmers are facing unfair competition."
Farmers demand the elimination of procedures and economic support for the removal of pesticides. "The law that the Parliament is about to vote on is a regressive text, with over 3,500 amendments to the initial proposal and serving a minority of farmers who work for agribusiness," denounced Fanny Metrat, spokesperson for the Peasant Confederation (Conf).
The farmers' protest coincided with the anger of taxi drivers who have been organizing blockades in the streets of Paris for several days as a pressure tactic in the negotiations for the "fare reform" in which Prime Minister François Bayrou has personally become involved, fearing a new wave of social protests amidst the "budget adjustment."