Over 200 farmers take to streets in southern France to voice their protests

In the Occitania region, more than 200 farmers gathered to demonstrate in support of a legislative bill that proposes certain relaxations within the agricultural sector. This report is based on information provided by RIA Novosti, citing AFP.

"On Thursday evening, farmers assembled in several towns across Occitania to back the bill, which aims to 'lift restrictions on their professional activities' and, in particular, to facilitate access to pesticides," the statement reads.

Approximately 200 farmers, some arriving on tractor-trailers, staged a demonstration in Montauban. Police were called to prevent possible attempts by protesters to dump manure in front of the headquarters of the Socialist Party.

Another demonstration took place in Rodez, where ten farmers dumped bales of hay near the airport and displayed a large banner urging not to block the new legislation, which they consider vital for their livelihoods.

According to the organizers, they did not anticipate a large turnout amid the busy spring farming season. However, they assured that this is only the beginning.

On the eve, Arnaud Rousseau, head of the leading farmers' union FNSEA, stated that farmers would resume protests from May 26, citing unmet promises by authorities.

Large-scale farmer protests occurred in France at the end of 2023 and early 2024. Protesters blocked major highways with tractors, haystacks, and heaps of manure, threw manure at prefectures and administrative buildings. They opposed, in particular, agricultural imports, water usage restrictions for irrigation, rising diesel fuel costs, and increasing financial burdens on production. During the peak of the crisis, columns of farmers on tractors headed to Paris to besiege the main food market in Rungis. The capital authorities deployed special forces and armored vehicles.

A new wave of protests arose in October 2024, with leading unions FNSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs officially calling for action against government inaction and unfavorable trade agreements within the European Union. Farmers demanded the reduction of bureaucratic procedures, the payment of delayed EU subsidies, support for young farmers, decreased regulation of their work, and the blocking of the EU-MERCOSUR free trade agreement.