Clash of French farmers with the police

A number of angry French farmers stormed a major agricultural exhibition in Paris ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s planned visit on Saturday amid anger over costs, bureaucracy and regulations.

According to the Arabic Post report, the farmers shouted and booed them when confronted by dozens of police officers inside the exhibition, demanding Macron’s resignation, while making insults aimed at the president.

Macron canceled a debate he had planned to hold at an agricultural fair with farmers, food producers and retailers after farmers’ unions said they would not attend.

Farmers across Europe are protesting, demanding better incomes and less bureaucracy, complaining of unfair competition from cheap Ukrainian goods. In 2022, to support the country’s economy after the Russian invasion, the European Union exempted Ukrainian food imports from customs duties.

The larger-scale protests began as farmers were displeased with French Prime Minister Gabriel Atal’s announcement that a 0.03-euro tax hike on agricultural fuel would be phased out until 2030, which did not meet their demands. .

Farmers are demanding better wages, simplified administrative procedures, no new ban on pesticides, an end to high tractor fuel prices and improved government compensation after disasters.

Earlier, in a speech to parliament, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal called for an “exemption of French agriculture” from EU measures on the environment, which farmers say have harmed them, according to local media.

Other European countries are witnessing similar protests by farmers, including Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Romania, who criticize the European Union’s regulations on the Green Deal and its Common Agricultural Policy.

The European Union agreement, which was announced in 2019, aims to achieve a better climate and reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050. But mass protests by farmers began weeks ago, when French demonstrators blocked highways in southwestern France.