Who will best appeal to the agricultural world? On my left (or rather “neither to my left nor to my right”, to respect the wishes of Emmanuel Macron), Gabriel Attal for whom agriculture is “an absolutely major subject (…) which I take very seriously serious”, a little declaration of love in passing during a trip organized to Saint-Laurent-d’Agny (Rhône). Second love candidate 600 kilometers away, the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, head of the list in the European elections of June 9, dating at a dairy farmer in Queyrac (Gironde).
He denounced “Macron’s Europe” which wants, according to him, “the death of our agriculture” put in competition “with agricultural products which come from the ends of the world, which do not respect any of the ever harsher and ever more stringent standards. heavier than those imposed on French farmers.
Another candidate for love
Meanwhile, Attal also continued his gentle eyes, describing agriculture as an “opportunity” and a “pride” for France, he notably promised to “make life easier” for farmers by reducing “red tape”. And hop, a third candidate: the Minister of Agriculture was sent to the Cher where he visited a dairy farm and met agricultural officials. “The enactment of rules and standards that are increasingly onerous to bear” has generated “moral hardship” and a “certain despair,” the president of the departmental chamber of agriculture, Etienne Gagneron, recalled before him.
“I asked my teams” to find “ways of simplification, things that the farmer will see that he does less” in his daily life, the minister explained to the press.
Gabriel Attal lands a second appointment
It must be said that a few weeks before the European elections, the vote of the agricultural world could prove decisive. However, for the moment, the latter is less cooing than he is quite angry. In France, as elsewhere in Europe, farmer demonstrations have been increasing in recent weeks. Increased charges, ban on pesticides authorized elsewhere, feeling of being crushed by standards, competition from Ukrainian products, compensation for health crises… There are many reasons for anger.
In Occitania, farmers have been blocking the A64 motorway – Toulouse-Bayonne – near Carbonne (Haute-Garonne) since Thursday evening. On the tracks, tractors are lined up by the dozens.
Who leaves with a second date after so much political parade? Gabriel Attal will receive on Monday evening the boss of the FNSEA (National Federation of Agricultural Operators’ Unions) and the allied union Young Farmers. The government must present on January 24 – one month before the opening of the Agricultural Show (February 24 to March 3 in Paris) – a bill to promote succession in agriculture. In particular, it provides that each schoolchild benefits from at least one “agricultural discovery action”, such as a farm visit, during their schooling. The profession imagined a more ambitious text. Love sometimes disappoints.