Action of the French government to calm the angry farmers
The French government has put reforms on the agenda to calm angry farmers and announced that it wants to guarantee a minimum price for farmers. |
At the beginning of February, the French government promised measures to calm the farmers. Gabriel Attal, the French Prime Minister, has now presented the first concrete steps for this purpose. The French Prime Minister announced that the new law should be implemented by the summer. According to him, this is to strengthen the position of French farmers in negotiations with product buyers and to support the price of farmers’ products. The announcement comes after weeks of protests by farmers across the country.
Farmers largely stopped their protests after Atal promised new measures on February 1, but demanded the first concrete results before the trade fair. Agriculture was the “Salon de l’Agriculture” which started at the weekend. They complain about insufficient payments and excessive burdens from taxes, environmental regulations and cheap overseas competition.
The French government has already campaigned to reduce EU environmental regulations in favor of farmers. and wants to curb nationwide protests before the upcoming European elections in June. The government is worried that these protests may help right-wing populist parties.
For weeks, farmers in many European countries have been protesting against climate and environmental regulations, high tax burdens and bureaucracy, as well as against Cheap imports from Ukraine hit the streets.
In Madrid, the Spanish capital, farmers also paralyzed parts of downtown Madrid on Wednesday morning with dozens of tractors – many of which had already been stopped by police. Spanish farmers are demanding “fair prices” and a stronger position in the food chain. This protest has been going on continuously since February 6.
Some Spanish farmers complained that the police prevented tractors from going to Madrid. The Spanish government announced that 500 tractors were allowed access. However, another 150 vehicles were stopped.
Farmers in various European countries, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Romania, and Italy also came to the streets these days and expressed their protests against the Brussels dictatorship and blocked the roads.
In Greece, thousands of farmers went to Athens to protest in front of the parliament. demonstrate against the agricultural policy of the government and the European Union.
Greek farmers demanded lower taxes, discounts on electricity and fuel and stricter import control.
The Greek government has announced in response to these protests that they had already made concessions on the price of electricity and diesel. The government had previously announced that it would reduce the energy costs of agricultural businesses and reduce the value added tax on fertilizers and animal feed from 13 to 6 percent. The position of farmers should also be strengthened in negotiations with retailers and food producers. Legal reforms will begin by summer. Atal said: “We heard the voice of the farmers, we accepted some commitments and we adhere to them.
Publisher | Tasnim News |