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French farmers re-start protests and roadblocks

French farmers on Wednesday began to enact demos and roadblocks, threatening to re-start the 'agriculteurs en colère' protests which last month saw roadblocks across France.

Published: 20 February 2024 16:17 CET
Updated: 21 February 2024 08:47 CET
French farmers re-start protests and roadblocks
Farmers at a protest in Guingamp, western France, on February 20, 2024. Photo by FRED TANNEAU / AFP

On Wednesday France was once again the scene of farmer protests, albeit on a small scale so far, including a roadblock on an autoroute in the south west and blockades at supermarkets and factories.

Starting as a small protest over French and EU farming regulations, January’s demos turned into one of the biggest farmer protests in recent decades with roadblocks bringing traffic to a halt all over France while farmers threatened to ‘besiege’ Paris and cut off its food supplies.

In the end, most of the farmers were persuaded to abandon the roadblocks on the autoroutes and go home after prime minister Gabriel Attal unveiled a massive package of financial aid, as well as promises to loosen some of the regulations that farmers say are drowning them in paperwork.

While the two biggest farming unions – the FNSEA and Jeune agriculteurs – agreed to halt the roadblocks, they did add a condition; the government should give them concrete assurances by the start of the biggest event in the farming calendar, the Salon de l’Agriculture in Paris.

With the Salon set to start on Saturday, February 24th, union leaders on Tuesday said they are ready to re-start the protests. Attal, hoping to head off further protests at the pass, is giving a press conference on farming on Wednesday morning.

READ ALSO Why France’s biggest farm show is taking on new significance in 2024

The FNSEA and JA leaders met president Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday evening, but ahead of the meeting the JA leaders announced some preemptive measures. 

Demonstrations have been announced in Pas-de-Calais, Gers, Tarn-et-Garonne and Hautes-Pyrénées for Wednesday.

The A62 between Toulouse and Bayonne was blocked on Tuesday, with farmers saying the blockades will continue on Wednesday.

Farmers in Pas-de-Calais say they plan to ‘inspect’ supermarkets in the area to check that products advertised as made in France are correctly labelled and to advise customers on the impact that foreign-imports of food are having on the French farming industry. 

Meanwhile farmers in the south-west say they intend to continue to blockade a Danone factory in Villecomtal-sur-Arros.

On Tuesday some rolling roadblocks took place in the Gers, Hautes-Pyrénées and Tarn-et-Garonne départements while a supermarket in Negrepelisse (Tarn-et-Garonne) was blockaded.

There have also been revived protests in the city of Marseille. 

“The time of political decisions has come,” said Arnaud Rousseau, head of the biggest farmers’ union FNSEA, late Tuesday. “Expectations are running high.”

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal was on Wednesday setting out details on the “main measures” included in a forthcoming agriculture law, which is to include a passage on French “food sovereignty”, officials said.

He was also to give an update on government promises made at the start of the month.

If the unions do not like what they hear on Wednesday, protests could be stepped up – some farmers are already planning a protest in Paris on Friday evening, the day before the Salon de l’Agriculture opens.

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READER QUESTION

Reader question: Can I approach my French deputé for help? 

If you live in France you will have a local representative in parliament - but can you approach them for help if you have a problem? Here's how the député system works.

Published: 24 May 2024 15:49 CEST
Reader question: Can I approach my French deputé for help? 

There are 557 députés (MPs) in France’s Assemblée nationale – of whom 362 are men and 215 are women. 

They are elected on a constituency (circonscription) basis, so every area of France has its ‘local’ representative in parliament – you can look up yours here.

Officially however, French MPs are invested with a national mandate – effectively, France is their constituency. They are, therefore, expected to act in what they believe are the best interests of the whole country at all times – not just the interest of their local area.

National mandate 

“MPs in France are not mouthpieces for their voters,” the Assemblée nationale website declares, “they act for themselves in relation to their vision of the general interest.”

It goes on to insist that MPs, “cannot be prisoners of local or sectional interests” – meaning that they should not be persuaded to vote in a particular way by outside parties, whether that is businesses/ monied individuals/ lobbyists – or their own voters. 

It’s a Revolutionary ideal that has its origins in article three of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, from August 26th, 1789: “The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body, no individual can exercise authority that does not emanate expressly from it.”

And the French Constitution states: “national sovereignty belongs to the people, who exercise it through their representatives”.

Basically, it means that deputies represent the entire nation and not just voters in their constituency.

READ ALSO OPINION: How to be loved by the French electorate? Retire or die

In reality, of course, MPs are influenced by what matters to their constituents – so for example an MP elected in a rural area might be more likely to back laws that protect farmers. 

And it’s not just MPs – the recent unsuccessful attempts to ease post-Brexit rules for British second-home owners were proposed by Senators who have constituencies in south-west France and the Alps; areas well known for having a high number of second homes.

Nonetheless, the theory is of ‘national’ MPs.

Meeting the locals

Crucially, however, this does not mean that – once elected – MPs do not meet residents in the constituencies that elected them and discuss local issues. Quite the opposite.

Constituents can contact their député to discuss ideas and concerns. In fact, your local MP – with their national mandate – is easy to get in touch with. You can find their official assembly email address here, along with where they sit in the hemisphere and what they have recently been up to in parliament, by searching for your commune or département.

In theory, that national mandate means you could contact any of France’s 577 MPs for assistance. But it makes sense to seek out the ones the electorate in your area voted for, because it means they should have a handle on any local issues and angles.

If you already know the name of your friendly neighbourhood MP, you could search for them on social media, and contact them that way; while many – but by no means all – have their own website, with additional contact details. 

So, generally, you can get hold of your French MP easily enough. They hold office hours, organise public meetings, respond to numerous requests for assistance and advice, and channel the concerns of their constituents to national decision-making bodies.

It is part of their job to help you if they can.

You may also bump into them at events in the local area such as summer fêstivals, the Fête de la musique or more formal events such as the Armistice Day commemorations or the July 14th celebrations. Politicians like to get involved in local events to either remain part of the community or to persuade people to re-elect them (take your pick).

At formal events they will be wearing a tricolore sash and you will be able to tell them apart from the local mayor by which way up they wear their sashes (honestly, this is true).

Mairie

Sometimes their help will involve pointing you in the direction of your local mairie – which may be better at dealing with more practical matters.

In fact, for many local issues, the mairie should be your first port of call – or possibly the préfecture. France has several layers of local government and they have quite far-reaching powers – especially local mayors.

For this reason, it’s more usual to first approach the mairie rather than your MP if you have a problem – but there’s nothing to stop you approaching your MP instead.

The convenient truth is that French MPs do not work just in the ivory tower of the Palais Bourbon.

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