France has said it would push to ease European Union environmental regulations on fallow farmland this week, as tractors blocked major highways out of Paris on Monday and nationwide farmers’ protests intensified.
The French government on Friday abandoned plans to gradually reduce state subsidies on agricultural diesel and promised a reduction in red tape and an easing of environmental regulations, but farmers’ organisations said that was not enough and pledged to step up the pressure.
Farming Minister Marc Fesneau said on Monday that, at a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels this week, President Emmanuel Macron would make a push for more pro-farming policies to address grievances shares by many farmers in the bloc.
Meanwhile, head of France’s biggest farming organization, FNSEA union, Arnaud Rousseau said farmers would block all major highways out of Paris at about 30 kilometers from the centre, arguing that the closer the protest is to the President, the better the chances of getting quick response.
Rousseau said although he was scheduled to meet French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Monday, farmers would continue their action everywhere in France with the aim to get emergency measures about the core of their business.
Taxi drivers were also protesting in several French cities over new tariffs for medical transport, which could add to traffic chaos in Paris.
