French farmers protest: ‘we prefer the far-right to ecologists’

A leading French farmers’ union has staged a protest against a possible introduction of ecological policies under a left-wing government.

The Coordination rurale movement held a protest in Lot-et-Garonne as the Tour de France passed through the department yesterday (July 11) over concerns relating to ecological reforms which may be brought in if the left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) form the next government. 

The make-up of its government is not known, nor indeed if they will even be offered the chance to form one. 

However as the Greens are part of the alliance, it is considered likely Green candidates would push for Ministries of Ecological Transition or Agriculture if the group formed a cabinet, as these are areas with the highest potential for their policies.

“The absolute horror for us would be to have Marine Tondelier [national secretary of the Greens] or another 'loser' (tocard in French) as Minister of Ecology or Agriculture in the government,” said Serge Bousquet-Cassagne, president of the Lot-et-Garonne Chamber of Agriculture.

The policies of left-wing groups in the NFP, including far-left La France Insoumise “is the pure and simple murder of French agriculture. We won't let ourselves die like that,” he added. 

“They won't go over our heads, we will have to get out our pitchforks instead of our tractors,” Mr Bousquet-Cassagne added, referencing the many protests and roadblocks conducted by farmers this year already. 

However he did not point to any specific policies that would cause issues for French agricultural producers. 

Agricultural policies included in the manifesto of the NFP include: 

• An end to some factory farming practices and ‘mega-bassins’

• More regulations on certain GMOs (genetically modified crops) and bans on certain pesticides and PFAS (forever chemicals

• The introduction of minimum prices (prix plancher) for certain agricultural products

In 2023, the farmer led a “hunt” against Miss Tondelier when she was set to appear in the department, saying she was not welcome in the area. 

An investigation into “attempted obstruction of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly” is underway against him.

Attal is best choice ‘as he is scared of us’

"We would have preferred the Rassemblement National to be in power, we've never tried them," said Mr Bousquet-Cassagne.

Given the choice of the current contenders – the far-right party and its allies finished third in last Sunday’s elections and will not be part of the next government – the farmers have a clear preference.

"We prefer Attal, for one simple reason: he's afraid of us,” Mr Bousquet-Cassagne added.

Mr Attal faced trial by fire soon after becoming prime minister at the start of the year, when farmers began protesting across the country. 

They were protesting the end of exemptions on certain taxes for farmers, new limits on pesticide usage, as well as the ‘globalisation’ of French supermarket shelves and the importing of many non-French goods. 

Read more: Farmers block several French motorways as protests spread

The government conceded to many of the farmers’ demands. 

It now seems likely that more protests will take place if the NFP forms the next government. 

President of the Coordination rurale, Véronique Le Floc'h, said that political forces had “totally abandoned agriculturalists,” in France. 

She called on the movement to be “a driving force” for changes and for farmers to "take up the fight again tomorrow.”