Farmers begin major protests in support of new deregulation bill

Farmers are blocking major roads around Paris today as a fresh wave of protests in the sector begin. 

Workers in the sector are launching major action as French MPs begin to debate a major farming bill that if passed would reduce regulations in the sector, in areas such as factory farming and pesticide use.

Major farming unions have backed the protests, which as of now have no fixed end date. 

They are threatening to increase disruption levels as the week progresses, blocking more and more roads particularly around the capital.

Disruption is expected across the country in coming days, as farmers from all regions take part to block local and national roads and descend on mairies.

Demonstrations in Paris, blockades into the city

In a powerful start to the action, up to 200 hundred tractors descended on the Assemblée nationale in Paris to show their support for the ‘Duplomb’ law.

These early protests will be “supervised, [as] we don't want anything to get out of hand,” said president of the FNSEA union Arnaud Rousseau in an interview with media outlet Midi Libre. 

Throughout the week, farmers from several other regions are to filter into the city to maintain the protests.

This morning, farmers from the Île-de-France region are blocking several roads around the capital. 

Reports indicate that the A15, N184, N104, and N118 are set to be impacted by blockades today, particularly on roads entering into the city .

Roads in the south-west, including the Dordogne, are also set to be blocked by protesters at a local level, as are roads in the Nord department including the major A1 between Lille and Paris.

Drivers should check local news reports and the websites of motorway operators to see if their travel plans are affected. 

Public holiday disruption? 

Farmers are planning to up the ante depending on how well they believe debates in the Assemblée nationale are going. 

Farmers back many aspects of the law, and are angry that several amendments were made in an early reading of the bill by MP committees, in particular over ‘mega reservoirs’.

The bill has already passed through the Senate, although the Assemblée nationale is far more politically divided and there is stiff opposition from left-wing MPs and Greens over many of the proposals.

“If things do not go well in the debates at the Assembly on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, we are ready to go out on the freeway and block… all the tollbooths leaving Paris,” said a local president of the FDSEA union David Vallée (quoted in FranceInfo). 

This would in turn prevent Parisians from leaving the city for the Ascension public holiday, threatening the holiday plans of hundreds of thousands of workers.