French Farmers Take to the Streets Before Crucial Elections

As I have said before, the aim of the Eurocrat elite is to destroy the small farmer and make us dependent on multinationals for our food supply.

From The European Conservative

By Hélène de Lauzun, PhD

A shift to the Right is expected in the representation in the Agriculture Chambers

France is facing a new wave of farmers’ protests in defense of their livelihood and way of life. Roads leading to the two main cities of Paris and Lyon have been partially blocked by tractor-led ‘snail operations.’ The demonstrators want to take advantage of the elections to the chambers of agriculture, scheduled for January 7th, to make their voices heard.

The protest is being led by the Coordination Rurale (CR), France’s second-largest farming union. Calls for action have been going out for several days, and blockades were staged between the evening of Sunday and the morning of Monday on the main roads leading to Lyon and Paris.

“It’s not a question of blocking the people of Paris or the Ile-de-France,” explained the union delegates to reassure the public, but of getting their message across. The CR reiterated its main demands: Its members want an end to the excessive implementation of EU regulations into French law, and better control of international trade to protect the interests of French farmers. Sophie Lenaerts, the union’s vice president, told AFP that her organisation was calling for “controls on imports rather than on farms.” The CR also opposes the final ratification of the free trade agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc—a deal pushed by the EU Commission against strong opposition in France. French farmers and politicians alike have warned that the agreement could devastate the agricultural sector, undermine environmental protections, and compromise food quality.

The farming world was deeply dismayed by the ousting of Prime Minister Michel Barnier in December. The change in government has delayed the implementation of the aid measures that French farmers have been demanding for many months, with no new timeline in sight.

The new prime minister, François Bayrou, has scheduled a meeting with representatives of the four main farming unions for Monday, January 13th. But the unions find this date to be too late.

Elections to the chambers of agriculture are due to start on Tuesday, January 7th. These are currently dominated by the FNSEA union (Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d’Exploitants Agricoles), traditionally the government’s main negotiating partner, with a centrist, even left-wing, stance. The FNSEA is now facing competition from the Coordination Rurale, a more recent union (founded in 1991) with a more clearly right-wing stance. Developing an anti-system, sovereignist rhetoric opposed to ultra-liberalism, it also attacks the productivist model—which prioritizes maximizing production over other concerns— defended by the FNSEA since the end of the Second World War.

The CR has distinguished itself in recent months through spectacular actions: a demonstration at the warehouses of the Rungis market in January 2024; the dumping of tonnes of waste in front of the prefecture in Agen; the covering up of speed cameras in the Manche department, etc. The offensive strategy has borne fruit, since the CR has recorded a spectacular increase in membership.

The mainstream press, echoing President Macron’s accusations that “these people are here with a political project to serve the Rassemblement National,” is denouncing the CR’s links with the ‘far right’, citing the many cordial exchanges between CR trade unionists and the leaders of the Rassemblement National (RN) or Reconquête, especially during the agricultural crises of recent months. However, the president of the Coordination refutes any political affiliation: “Not a single CR leader belongs to the RN, LR [Les Républicains], or any other political party,” she asserts. 

Elections to the chambers of agriculture begin on January 7th and are due to be held across the country until January 31st. More than 2.2 million farmers and professionals are called upon to choose their representatives. Their choice will determine the direction taken by French agriculture in its dealings with the public authorities over the coming months.