The farmers are marching towards Paris – manure everywhere

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France 

 

The blockade continues – until the farmers are satisfied  

 

Ellen Sundstrom  

 

Updated 18.24 | Published 6:00 p.m  

 

The French government has been given an ultimatum.  

 

If they don't make the farmers happy, the "fertilizer protests" will come to Paris.  

 

At 2 p.m., tractors began to block the roads into the capital.  

 

During Friday morning and earlier this week, several major highways were blocked by agricultural vehicles in France. This morning, two major highways were closed for a total of 400 kilometers. 

 

In the afternoon, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal met with farmers on a farm in southern France to respond to the protests carried out by the country's farmers in recent days. 

 

- I have made a very clear decision, to drastically simplify our procedures, and, when necessary, our standards, when they do not make sense, Attal tells the farmers.  

 

He is announcing ten "immediate simplification measures" and "a month of simplification" starting at the end of February, according to Le Monde. He refers, for example, to the "cleaning" of waterways for agriculture and the deadlines for appeals of agricultural projects.  

 

 

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.  

1 / 2Photo: Aurelien Morissard / AP  

 

Agricultural unions have announced earlier in the day that they will not lift the blockades if the government's announcements do not meet their expectations.  

 

Whether Attal's announcements are enough for the farmers is not determined. However, the trade union FNSEA has previously sent a list of 140 demands to the government, which included, among other things, a fixed minimum price for their products.  

 

A figure depicting a hanged peasant at a tollbooth south of Paris. Photo: Christophe Ena / AP  

 

Some of the acts of protest in recent days have included dumping manure near the entrance to an airport and in front of a government building in Nice. During Thursday, manure was dumped on train tracks, and manure has also been dumped inside McDonalds restaurants.  

 

During Saturday, farmers also plan to strip naked on straw bales in a town in western France. 

 

- We want to show a very strong image. That's what agriculture is about today, we are left exposed, says farmer Natacha Guillement to BFM TV.  

 

The background to the protests is, among other things, dissatisfaction with high taxes on fuel, low wages and excessively far-reaching climate measures.  

 

At the beginning of the protests, a 35-year-old farmer and a 12-year-old girl were killed after being run over at an agricultural barricade. The girl's father was seriously injured. The public prosecutor states that the incident was not intentional.  

 

The "fertilizer protests" block a highway to Paris. Photo: Christophe Ena / AP