Published On: Tue, Jan 30th, 2024

Furious French farmers spotted tearing down EU flags during protest | World | News


Angry French farmers are now removing EU flags as part of a protest against pay and regulations.

Farmers in the EU’s biggest agricultural producer say they are not being paid enough and are being suffocated by excessive environmental protections.

They have been protesting for weeks in France against the “destruction of rural life”, demanding fairer produce prices, subsidies on diesel and financial aid for organic farmers.

Farmers Defence Force shared a video on Twitter of protestors tearing down a European Union flag with the caption #Frexit.

Protestors are also promising to “besiege2 Paris by blocking roads encircling the city with tractors for an indefinite period of time.

Gerald Darmanin, the interior minister, said 15,000 police and gendarmes had been mobilised to prevent the blockade and retain access to Charles de Gaulle-Roissy and Orly airports.

He warned farmers that blocking Rungis, a market which supplies 60% of Paris’s fresh food to about 12 million people, would be crossing a red line.

The authorities are advising drivers to cancel or postpone all non-essential road travel.

The French government is under pressure to defuse the crisis ahead of European elections in June and the annual Paris farm show in late February.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced last week that diesel tax increases would be scrapped for farmers. He also set out steps to reduce red tape and offered extra aid including for farmers affected by a cattle disease in the south.

The French farmers argue that the repercussions of the Ukraine war, including increased prices for fertiliser and energy, have significantly impacted their incomes, making farming untenable for some.

The movement in France reflects a global food crisis exacerbated by Russia‘s ongoing war in Ukraine, a major food producer. French farmers claim that the country’s heavily subsidised farming sector is over-regulated and hampered by imports from countries with lower production costs.

Farmers are also protesting across Europe, in Belgium, Berlin and Romania.



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