French farmers to start 'historic' blockade over unfulfilled demands
2 Min Read
The farmers say the blockade is due to insufficient responses to their demands from local, regional, and national officials.
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French gendarmes wait near a toll booth adjacent to a highway leading to the border with Spain, ahead of a planned blockage by French and Spanish farmers, at Le Boulou, near Perpignan on June 3, 2024. (AFP)
Farmers in south-west France have announced Monday a "historic" blockade along the border with Spain, demanding renewed support for the agricultural sector, The Connexion news website reported.
The group Ultras de l’A64, consisting of farmers from the Haute-Garonne department, has called for the blockade, which will be coordinated with Spanish farmers.
"This crisis is European, which is why we are calling on all farmers, unionised or not, to join us in historically blocking the Pyrenees mountain range,” the group’s leader, Jerome Bayle, stressed in a statement on Facebook.
Farmers across Europe have been protesting over what they say are excessively restrictive environmental rules, competition from cheap imports from outside the European Union, and low incomes.
In response, the French government offered farmers financial aid and abandoned a plan to reduce pesticide use. The National Assembly also passed a new agriculture bill in March. However, many farmers felt the bill did not go far enough.
Bayle, who led the initial agricultural protests in France, acknowledged that while the French government had urgently provided financial aid after the initial protests, the measures remained "only temporary."
He pointed out that the farmers are calling for the blockade due to insufficient responses to their demands from local, regional, and national officials.
The farmers' demands include the scrapping of energy taxes for the agricultural sector, stricter food safety regulations, a revision of agricultural taxation, and financial assistance to install solar panels on roofs.
Bayle affirmed that "this historic day will take place with respect for property and people."
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