'Food sovereignty': Sound legislation or just 'a message of love to farmers'?
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00 Well, here in France, farmers who have been blockading major highways over the past several
00:04 days obtained a list of concessions from the French government Thursday.
00:08 That led two major unions to announce an end to those nationwide blockades.
00:12 But I think it's still too early to declare an official end to the crisis.
00:16 That's because some protesters say that they are planning to continue at least for another
00:21 day until they see written commitments.
00:24 Well, Ariane Bouguian joins us now on the program for a closer look.
00:29 She is a senior lecturer in French politics at Northumbria University.
00:34 Thank you very much for joining us, Ariane.
00:36 Good afternoon.
00:37 So Macron's government is often accused of headline-making announcements with limited
00:41 impact.
00:42 So how significant do you think the concessions for these farmers are?
00:46 Well, they are quite significant.
00:48 And the fact that the main trade union said that they've been heard and asked for roadblocks
00:53 to be removed shows that they are happy with what they got.
00:58 They didn't get everything that they wanted, but enough for them to stop the roadblocking.
01:04 But what we've seen is a de-escalation.
01:07 It's not the end of mobilization.
01:09 One—sorry, first of all, because one of the unions wants to carry on.
01:14 They don't think they got enough.
01:15 They're smaller, so I think what we're going to see is more localized roadblocks as opposed
01:20 to throughout France.
01:22 Second, the trade union said yesterday that they want to be very vigilant.
01:27 They want to make sure that what's been announced is actually implemented and implemented well.
01:33 And they gave two deadlines, one, the agricultural show at the end of this month, and second,
01:39 in June, for any EU action.
01:42 And if they see that what they have been promised is not implemented, they are going to start
01:46 again.
01:47 So today, right now, we have a clear de-escalation.
01:51 A lot of roadblocks have been removed.
01:55 But it doesn't mean that it's the end, and it can't start again.
01:59 Now, this is far from the first protest movement that Emmanuel Macron's government has had
02:04 to grapple with.
02:05 And in comparison to others, there were seemingly much fewer protesters.
02:09 And still—so, how do you explain that, the scale, really, and the speed of the announcements,
02:15 especially compared to the little that was announced for other major protest movements?
02:20 Yeah, it's because French governments are very wary of two demographics in France.
02:27 One is the students.
02:28 The second is the farmers.
02:29 This is because farmers' protest tends to be very disruptive.
02:34 It can be very violent.
02:36 We have a very, very long history of those protests.
02:39 They are also very difficult to dislodge, because you're talking big tractors.
02:44 It's much easier to, you know, to stop people on the street when they protest, as opposed
02:50 to tractors, unless you're going to send the army, which you're not going to do.
02:54 And they are supported by the vast majority of the population.
02:57 I think it was 90 percent.
02:59 So, it's very difficult for a government to go against farmers.
03:03 And they are super organized, with, you know, trade unions, you know, that kind of lead
03:10 and control what they're doing.
03:13 So, they were in a position of strength, and it's always been the case for farmers.
03:17 And you're right.
03:18 The government was very quick to act, because they knew that they had to act quickly.
03:23 And that's what they did.
03:24 And here is the result.
03:26 Well, for the left, this is yet another example of Macron pandering to the far right.
03:31 Why are these concessions to farmers seen that way?
03:35 I think the main criticism that I saw from the left is about the environment, and, you
03:44 know, because in the plan, in what was announced yesterday, the EcoFETO—sorry for this name—plan,
03:51 which is a plan designed to reduce pesticide, is going to be paused.
03:55 So, there has been a lot of criticism from NGOs in particular that basically what the
04:02 government has done is pander, your term, to the farmers, but sacrificing or at least
04:09 denting France's environmental commitment.
04:14 And, you know, the government said this morning that they want a popular ecology as opposed
04:20 to a punitive one.
04:21 But the question that has to be asked is, what does it mean?
04:24 What does a popular ecology mean, and what does this, you know, reduction—sorry, environmental
04:32 commitment means for the green transition?
04:35 So, the criticism from the left is very much about the fact that the environment is kind
04:42 of sacrificed, and also that long-term structural problems in terms of farmers' income has
04:48 not really been tackled.
04:50 Finally, these announcements, Ariane, included a push to obtain so-called food sovereignty.
04:58 Do you see this, then, as a loss for the EU?
05:00 France, of course, was just the latest of over a dozen EU countries to see farmers'
05:05 protests over the past 18 months.
05:07 So, what does this mean for agricultural regulations?
05:10 Does it set a precedent, perhaps?
05:12 Well, again, it's—you know, it's a nice—it has a nice ring to it.
05:18 It's a nice environmental sovereignty.
05:20 But what does it mean?
05:22 I understand that there's a law that is going to be passed to flesh it out.
05:27 I think it's really another kind of message of love sent to farmers to say, "We are
05:34 hearing you.
05:35 We understand you.
05:36 We are going to—we are going to help you."
05:38 But what will it mean in practice?
05:40 At this stage, we don't know.
05:42 It's just a nice soundbite.
05:45 Thank you very much for joining us today, Ariane.
05:48 Thank you.
05:49 Thank you.
05:49 Thank you.
05:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]