Macron receives representatives of the agricultural world to resolve the crisis

Officially, according to the Elysee Palace, this is a “working meeting.” President Emmanuel Macron is hosting representatives of the agricultural world this Thursday morning at the Elysee Palace to discuss the “prospects” of the sector and “announce the end” of the winter crisis.

During the opening of the last Agricultural Exhibition on February 24, at the height of the agricultural crisis, amid the noise, Emmanuel Macron agreed to meet with the trade unions three weeks later. The deadline was postponed several times, while the majority union FNSEA was impatient to see the head of state voice “his vision” for the future of agriculture.

Agricultural unions (FNSEA-Young Farmers’ Alliance, Rural Coordination, Peasant Confederation, Modef), Agricultural Cooperation (which represents the interests of French cooperatives) and several interprofessional organizations (pork, poultry, grains, wine, fruit and vegetables) confirmed that they were invited.

The Executive and the FNSEA have made no secret of their hope to close the chapter of the agricultural crisis, which erupted with the blocking of part of the A64 motorway in mid-January in Haute-Garonne and spread throughout the territory around many complaints about standards, income or even the treatment of the profession.

“EUR 500 to 600 million” for public finances

“We were determined. An agreement has been reached. We are marking the end,” commented a source close to Emmanuel Macron. The demonstrations prompted the government to make more than 60 commitments (emergency funds, simplifications, a “pause” in the development of a plan to reduce pesticide use, reducing the cost of hiring seasonal workers, etc.). The latest date is Saturday, when Prime Minister Gabriel Attal specifically assured that taking into account the best 25 years when calculating farmers’ retirement will come into effect in 2026.

The “entire package” of government obligations amounts to “between 500 and 600 million euros” for public finances, Agriculture Minister Marc Fenot said for his part.

The meeting comes as the National Assembly this week began considering in committee an agricultural guidance bill expanded in response to the crisis. In Article 1, he states that agriculture is of “essential general interest”, in particular to facilitate the construction of water supplies for irrigation and new above-ground livestock buildings.

Farm unions remain cautious

The fact remains that the majority unions FNSEA and JA, which thanks to this crisis have reaped an unprecedented harvest of responses to their demands, are expecting the President to speak in a repeat of his Rungis speech in 2017, which for a large part of the population looks like a bogeyman. agricultural world. At the time, the head of state shook up the industry by advocating for better food production that was more sustainable and theoretically more profitable for farmers. The strategy has been hit by inflation and sector resistance.

“He must come forward again to restore his vision of the future of the agricultural world, to tell us how he sees the French farm in 10, 20, 30 years, how he places it in European agriculture,” said JA President, Arnaud Guyot.

As for the FNSEA, we must “ensure that the statements made are put into practice,” explained union president Arnaud Rousseau in an interview with our newspaper on Wednesday. And warn: “And if this does not happen for administrative or political reasons, then next winter there will be movements again.”

For his part, the President of the Rural Coordination, Véronique Le Floc. said he hoped “the president has more to tell us than just, ‘The government has done everything it can for us.’ It would be incomprehensible.” Moreover, the second representative union always maintains pressure through local demonstrations or covering speed cameras with slogans like “No money for farmers, no money for the state.”