During the more than ten days that this uprising has lasted, the demonstrators have complained precisely about the imports of agricultural products from other countries, which are considered unfair competition because of their low price and because they have poorer environmental standards than French ones.
24 hours from possible blocking access to Paris on the part of the farmers, the French government of the pro-European Emmanuel Macron points out the “unfair competition” from EU partners such as Spain and Italy.
Macron’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Gabriel Attalwho this Sunday, perhaps under pressure from the announced closure of the capital, gave a speech dominated by words such as ‘independence’ and ‘sovereignty’, in which he also questions the functioning of the European Union (EU).
“We continue to fight unfair competition. Our farmers are being imposed (phytosanitary) rules that are not imposed on other (countries),” Attal criticized.
The head of government has said that at least 40% of fruits and vegetables are imported (mainly from Spain and Italy) due to the productive brake that certain environmental rules adopted in the legislation pose for France, and has stated that he will propose to his community partners “more measures” to protect French food sovereignty.
Statements by Attalwho is part of a government considered pro-EU, They attract attentionTherefore, in the absence of these new measures, they could question the functioning of the internal market of the community bloc.
During the more than ten days that this uprising has lasted, many of the demonstrators have complained about the imports of agricultural products mainly from Spain, because they believe that they represent unfair competition due to their low price, and that their ecological footprint standards They are worse than the French.
EU trade agreements in the spotlight
Free trade agreements between the EU and other regions of the world are in the spotlight of French farmers and ranchers.
The sector claims that these pacts are negative for their interests because they allow products to enter France at a much lower price, as they say happens with those from Brazil or Ukraine (two agricultural powers in the export of grains and meat such as chicken). .
One of the most criticized agreements is that of the EU-Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay), which must be ratified by the 27 EU member states after the 2019 political pact, which took more than two decades to complete.
The protests continue
Shortly before his speech, Attal again went to a farm in the hope of defusing a protest that showed the first signs of deflating on Saturday.
But neither the National Federation of Agricultural Trade Unions (FNSEA) nor the Young Farmers’ Union (JJAA) of the Paris region have stepped up and announced that they will block access to the capital “indefinitely”. Monday the 29th at 1:00 PM GMT.
Another organization, Rural Coordination, has assured that they will travel to Paris with the aim of blocking the international market of Rungis (suburb), considered the largest for fresh produce in the world.
The executive has assured that it does not intend to send police officers to disperse the protests, which it considers peaceful, even if public infrastructure is blocked.
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
