French farmers have laid 'siege to Paris' and have vowed to cut off food supplies to the French capital, going as far as to use their tractors to block eight highways leading to the city.
Enraged farmers are demanding better working conditions, claiming their jobs are being threatened by food retailers who are trying to bring down prices after a period of high inflation.
FNSEA, the country’s largest farmer’s union, and the Young Farmers group warned of “an indefinite siege of the capital”, as agricultural workers seek to raise pressure on Emmanuel Macron.
“[Blockading Paris] will happen naturally. Parisians are going to be hungry. The goal is to starve Parisians. That’s it”, said Benoît Durand, a grain farmer.
Enraged farmers have staged a blockade to demand better working conditions
Getty
Last night, the angry farmers refused to budge, setting up barbeques and sleeping in their trailers, in what the agricultural workers have labelled their “siege of Paris”.
Damien Greffin, vice-chairman of the FNSEA said the plan was to “encircle” the city, although they would not drive tractors into the centre of the capital.
Some 10,000 farmers and 5,000 farm vehicles took part in action around the country, French police sources said on Monday.
Their aim is to stop food from reaching supermarkets. As deliveries are sent in every day, if this were to be suddenly stopped, Paris would only have three days’ worth of food.
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Some 10,000 farmers and 5,000 farm vehicles took part in action around the country
Reuters
A group of almost a hundred tractors are heading to the Rungis region, dubbed the “belly of Paris”, in an attempt to “occupy” the pivotal food market, which supplies 60 per cent of the capital’s fresh food to around 12 million people.
They are expected to arrive by tonight, and will likely be joined by more farmers along the way.
The first motorway barrage was reported around 2pm local time, when 30 tractors blocked the A4 in both directions. As other main routes into Paris become blocked, motorists have been forced to use congested side roads.
By Monday evening, there were 97 miles (156km) of traffic jams reported on the motorways. Authorities have advised people to cancel all non-essential road travel.
The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said 15,000 police and gendarmes had been deployed around the country to stop the tractors from entering cities.
“We don’t intend to allow government buildings, or tax collection buildings, or grocery stores to be damaged or trucks transporting foreign produce to be stopped. Obviously, that is unacceptable,” he said.
As other main routes into Paris become blocked, motorists have been forced to use congested side roads
Reuters
In response to the blockades, French government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot said new measures would be announced today. “The whole government and the president are mobilised,” she said.
Alongside the new measures, Macron will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday to discuss EU-wide support for farmers.
Previously announced concessions included a plan to slowly reduce state subsidies on agricultural diesel and an easing of environmental regulations, which was publicised last Friday.
However, unions said that this was not enough and promised to ramp up the pressure and continue with the blockades.