(CN) — Angry French farmers on Monday began blocking major motorways around Paris with tractors and vowed to continue their “siege of the capital” until their demands for better pay, less environmental regulation and fairer competition were met.
The farmers' protests in Paris and across France seem set to expand further this week even though Prime Minister Gabriel Attal last Friday offered a key concession by scrapping a hike on agricultural diesel.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin mobilized about 15,000 police officers to prevent the farmers from driving their tractors into the center of Paris and Lyon, France's second-largest city. Police and armored vehicles also were deployed to guard the entrance of airports and Rungis, a food market that provides 60% of Paris' fresh food.
President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting with Attal and other key cabinet members Monday afternoon to discuss how to best deal with the sudden wave of protest from a small but key electoral group. Attal was expected to offer new measures to help the agricultural sector during a speech Tuesday at the National Assembly.
As of Monday evening, there were no reports of violence or clashes. Unlike other protest movements in recent years, Macron's government has ordered police to take a non-confrontational approach with the farmers.
The protests in France have been gaining momentum for the past week and come amid a larger tide of protests by farmers in Poland, Romania, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium.
On Monday, hundreds of German farmers disrupted sea ports, including the busy waterfront in Hamburg, with tractor blockades.
Germany too has offered concessions to farmers facing diesel hikes, but the compromises have not quelled the anger.
Among an array of complaints, European farmers are upset at tough environmental rules imposed by Brussels, higher costs linked to soaring inflation in the wake of the outbreak of war in Ukraine and a flood of cheap food imports from countries outside the EU where farmers aren't held to the same standards.
Many farmers' main gripe is with EU environmental standards, which they say are too strict, cumbersome and counterproductive.
“I had to stop breeding because of the standards that strangle breeders,” Michel Guillemard, a grain farmer in his 70s, told Le Figaro, a French newspaper. “Today, it is these standards that prevent us from doing our job correctly.”
He joined the protests riding an old Ford tractor he used to plant his first seeds, the newspaper reported. He said he was prepared to ride into central Paris to carry out the protests.
Farmers are speaking out against a proposed new trade deal between the EU and South America's trade bloc, known as Mercosur. They are also upset at the EU's decision to allow many Ukrainian agricultural goods to flow freely into the bloc as part of Europe's efforts to support Kyiv following the Russian invasion.
For months, Polish and Romanian farmers have sought to block border crossings with Ukraine and their protests forced their governments to bar Ukrainian grain imports. Under pressure, the EU also restricted Ukrainian grains last May, though it lifted the ban last September.
Despite causing disruption, farmers across Europe are enjoying public support.
In Bergerac, a town in the Dordogne department of southwest France, a priest was seen blessing convoys of tractors taking part in the protests. The mayor of Saint-Geneviève, a town north of Paris, waved at tractors as they headed toward the capital on Monday.
“I am the grandson of farmers,” Mayor Daniel Vereecke told Le Figaro, the French newspaper. “We are behind them. French production is important.”
Around Paris, tractors were lined up across motorways while farmers held rallies, set up food tents, gave interviews to journalists and arranged makeshift camps.
By late Monday, the blockades around Paris were established about 20 miles from the city center, but many farmers pledged to move toward the center unless they won more concessions. As many as 1,500 tractors across France were being used in the protests, authorities said, and as many as 16 major roads in 30 departments faced disruptions.
Clément Torpier, the president of the Île de France Young Farmers, told French media that the aim was to “hold out” until the government meets “the demands of the agricultural world.”
Farm leaders including Torpier said they did not want to upset the public and would work with the authorities.
Still, the protests have been marked by aggressive and unlawful tactics. In recent days, farmers have dumped manure at fast food restaurants, supermarkets and administrative buildings.
French authorities say trucks from outside France loaded with agricultural goods have been stopped at blockades and had their contents tossed onto the roadway. Darmanin urged police to arrest those involved in such attacks.
The farmer protests are seen as politically important because they are taking place at a politically fragile moment ahead of June European elections that could see far-right parties make major gains as discontent deepens in Europe over immigration, inflation and stagnant growth.
Fears are mounting that the farmers' protests could bolster even further far-right forces. Last November, months of protests by tractor-driving farmers in the Netherlands preceded a shocking win by far-right politician Geert Wilders in parliamentary elections.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
Follow @cainburdeau
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