French Farmers' Protests Escalate, Prompting Government Response

Newly appointed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to meet with farming union leaders as agricultural reforms are further delayed amid growing rural discontent.

French farmers are protesting against taxes on tractor fuel, access to water, and overregulation, blocking highways and setting up checkpoints near Toulouse.
New Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and far-right leader Jordan Bardella are trying to address farmers’ concerns, with Bardella criticizing President Emmanuel Macron’s track record and Attal promising to understand and address the hardships faced by the sector.
The protests in France echo similar demonstrations across Europe, with the root cause being EU policy, according to Arnaud Rousseau, president of France’s main FNSEA farmers’ union.
Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau has postponed a reform to encourage young people to go into farming, in order to assess the possibility of adding anti-red tape measures.
Attal is set to meet with union representatives, but the trade organizations’ grip on the protest movement is unclear, leading to comparisons with the uncoordinated 2019 Yellow Jackets’ movement.