Farmers' blocks will not be tolerated and mobile forces will be deployed to break them up and ensure free circulation, announced French Interior minister Bruno Retailleau.
"If there is a lasting roadblock, we will not hesitate to deploy mobile forces to ensure freedom of movement", he said on RTL/M6 on Sunday, November 17.
"The right to demonstrate is consitutional but there are limits to this right," which are "no property damage, no harm to individuals and no lasting blockades", said the interior minister.
Several major farmers’ unions are protesting today (Monday, November 18) to voice their opposition to the Mercosur trade deal negotiations and to get more support from the government.
People should expect to see farmers gather at roundabouts, change commune road signs and light protest fires. Some roadblocks are expected.
Farmers blocked two out of three lanes overnight on the N118 at Vélizy-Villacoublay (Yvelines), near Paris, but left this morning.
The unions chose the November 18 date for the protest in order to demonstrate against the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The national protest comes after several months of discontent due to what unions perceive as government indifference for their mounting problems.
In particular, they want more support for those suffering from budget problems due to the poor harvest, a reduced administrative burden, more funds for training and greater protection from foreign imports.
They fear the EU may use the occasion to press on with its negotiation of the Mercosur trade deal that would remove or simplify many customs duties between South America and the EU
Minister of Agriculture Annie Genevard told French media that the deal would not be signed at the summit.
“It is a bad agreement that will bring a whole host of products into our country that would compete directly with our producers,” she told France 3 on November 10. “In addition, it would come at the cost of deforestation and environmental standards".
Nonetheless, the Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles (FNSEA) and the Jeunes Agriculteurs are pressing on with the protest, which is organised by the unions’ local branches on a departmental level.
Where are farmers protesting today?
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Unions are planning to cover up the names of communes or replace them with the names of Latin American towns - in reference to the Mercosur deal.
Farmers will gather at roundabouts and light distress fires. However, no major blockades have been announced.
Town-centre protests are expected in Puy-en-Velay and in Lyon.
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Local protests are expected at roundabouts, with farmers lighting distress fires and covering up the names of communes, however no major roadblocks have been announced.
“There will be no formal blockade, but the police may close the roads around the fires’, Damien Brayotel, president of the FNSEA's Yonne branch, told French media.
Brittany
No roadblocks have been announced.
"The four departments of Brittany will mobilise in different ways, since cereal sowing and processing varies from one department to another. The protest will take place, but in different ways", said the regional director of the FNSEA.
Centre-Val-de-Loire
The unions announced several actions, including a roadblock in the afternoon on the Pont de l'Europe in Orléans.
“We're not here to block motorists, we're here to inform people about our situation” the Loiret FNSEA told France Bleu.
Protests are also likely on roundabouts and unions say they will cover up commune names on Sunday night.
Grand-Est
The Haut-Rhin branch of the FNSEA called for farmers to assemble at the Nouveau Monde roundabout in Soultz-Haut-Rhin.
A roadblock was to be put up at the border with Belgium, in the Ardennes, at 10:00.
In Aube, a blockade will be set up at the Europe roundabout in Troyes at 18:30.
In Marne, tractors will converge on Châlons-en-Champagne, with the first road blockades expected from 14:00.
Hauts-de-France
The regional director of the FNSEA told French media that the protest would be largely symbolic.
“It will be more visual and more symbolic than last winter,” he told newspaper la Voix du Nord. “There will be no motorway blockades. And no march to the prefecture in Lille with slurry dumping. At least not for the moment.”
Ile-de-France
The unions say they will “send a message to the President of the Republic from November 17”, however no major disruption is expected.
Normandy
The Seine-Maritime FDSEA has announced a major demonstration in Le Havre.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
In Dordogne, the departmental sections of the FNSEA and the Jeunes Agriculteurs are planning a protest in Périgueux from 16:00 at the Yves-Guéna roundabout.
In Deux-Sèvres, farmers are planning to take action from Sunday, followed by protests at Niort and Echiré on Monday and a go-slow operation on Tuesday.
In Landes, the Coordination Rurale union, which is known for its eye-catching protests, is calling for farmers to gather outside the prefecture in Mont-de-Marsan on Tuesday, November 19.
Another demonstration will take place on the same day in Agen, in the Lot-et-Garonne region.
Occitanie
In Tarn, two major roundabouts in Castres and Albi have already been targeted for Monday and Tuesday.
In Lot, rallies outside the prefecture and sub-prefectures are planned for Monday in Figeac, Gourdon and Cahors.
In Tarn-et-Garonne, action has already started, with some tax centres, including in Montauban, covered in tarpaulins.
Pays-de-la-Loire
The FNSEA and the Jeunes Agriculteurs are launching a protest in Mayenne from 20:00 on Sunday.
On Monday, farmers will blockade the Pont de l'Europe in Laval from 15:30.
Protests are planned in Le Mans, and around Sarthe, however, no major roadblocks are expected.
Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur
Local protests are expected, however no major roadblocks.
"We're starting slowly. We're going to build up the pressure in all four corners of the department. And if we really aren't heard, things will get a bit louder in the days and weeks to come”, the general secretary of the regional FDSEA told France Bleu.
