Angry farmers: Macron ‘will ask for new tax exemption on fallow land’, Attal announces

Farmers will have to wait a few more days on the issue of fallow lands. Gabriel Attal had to respond to their anger this Friday after a meeting at a cattle farm in Haute-Garonne. If the Prime Minister did not say anything concrete on this matter, he promised a response from Emmanuel Macron during the European Council. “The President will commit next week and request a new tax exemption on the issue of fallow lands. I know they are looking forward to it,” he assured.

The European Union, through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), requires farmers to leave 4% of their land cultivable. Gabriel Attal explained that leaving Europe would mean receiving 9 billion euros a year. He also noted that simplifications would be welcome. “It is clear that CAP needs to be simplified,” he said. Marc Fenot (Minister of Agriculture) will continue to travel to Brussels to ask for further simplifications at European level. »

At the heart of the demands is the issue of fallow land, illustrating the debate over the rules introduced by Brussels in favor of the ecological transition. But “when we are told that this year there will be 4% compulsory fallow, for us it is incomprehensible in this context,” Arnaud Rousseau, president of the FNSEA, complained last Tuesday.

CAP in the eyes of farmers

This measure appears in the CAP adopted by the EU in 2021 and applied from January 2023. CAP conditions the payment of direct assistance to farms on compliance with environmental standards. Therefore, farmers are required to leave 4% of arable land fallow or in “agri-ecological infrastructure” (hedgerows, groves, ditches, ponds, etc.). However, under certain conditions this rate can be reduced to 3%.

These “eco-schemes” offer additional bonuses to farmers who participate in more demanding environmental programs. But many farmers now complain of late payments as they are removed from what is seen as finicky controls locally.

The Élysée Palace appears to have responded sensitively to farmers’ requests to lift the obligation to leave 4% of acreage uncultivated. This assertion is supported by the aftermath of the war in Ukraine – the world’s largest grain producer – which highlights the fragility of food sovereignty. Since the Russian offensive began, farmers have taken advantage of the exemption to be able to produce more to compensate for disruptions in grain supplies from Ukraine and Russia. It expired at the end of 2023. About ten countries, including France, have called for at least a partial tax exemption to be extended. In vain.