French farmers began lifting their blockade of Paris early Wednesday after the government pledged debt relief measures and an emergency farm law, as protests driven by opposition to the EU-Mercosur trade deal continued elsewhere in the country.
Tractors from the FNSEA, France’s main farmers’ union, and the Jeunes Agriculteurs, which represents younger farmers, started leaving the capital around 4am after spending about 24 hours positioned near the National Assembly.
The departure followed overnight talks with the government after days of mobilisation over farm debt, costs and regulation.
FNSEA vice-president Luc Smessaert said a delegation met Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard shortly before midnight.
“The agriculture minister gave us details and commitments on cash-flow loans and restructuring for the most indebted farmers,” he told the French news agency AFP.
Hundreds of tractors roll into Paris as farmers protest EU-Mercosur trade deal
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced on Tuesday that an emergency agricultural law would be presented to the cabinet in March and examined by parliament before the summer.
He said the bill would focus on water, predation by wolves and production tools.
Farmers say the EU-Mercosur trade deal would expose them to cheaper agricultural imports from South America produced under lower standards, putting French producers at a disadvantage.
The government’s announcements closely match demands made by the FNSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs, the dominant alliance in French farm unionism whose regional branches around Paris launched tractor convoys into the capital.
Promises to calm the crisis
Lecornu also called for a moratorium on decisions linked to water policy, including a suspension of rules setting water withdrawal volumes until September. He asked for meetings to examine possible exemptions from the EU nitrates directive, which regulates fertiliser use.
These steps add to a €300 million support package promised on Friday, combining budget measures subject to a parliamentary vote with other measures already announced to respond to the agricultural crisis.
While tensions eased in Paris, mobilisation continued elsewhere.
In Toulouse, around 40 farmers from the Coordination Rurale union entered the city centre overnight despite a prefectural ban, parking their tractors close to the prefecture before being blocked by security forces.
EU countries green-light Mercosur trade deal despite France's opposition
“This is the state’s response when we have been given no answers, apart from the signing of Mercosur,” said Vincent Arbusti, a spokesperson for the Coordination Rurale in the Gers department, who confirmed that five people were arrested.
Police later removed the tractors. Farmers then set up a checkpoint near Toulouse-Blagnac airport, where about 10 tractors disrupted traffic on a roundabout.
Early Wednesday, farmers blocked a major motorway near Toulouse, cutting traffic in both directions and causing serious disruption.
Another slow-moving tractor protest was also under way on a main road in the Var region.
(with newswires)
