Spanish
A group of farmers managed to arrive this Thursday with a tractor in front of the French National Assembly, as a "symbolic gesture", after positioning themselves early in the morning at three other emblematic points of the capital, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Porte d'Auteuil, to protest the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur.
The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, who left the chamber to meet the protesters, was booed by them, who repeatedly chanted "resignation", in a tense atmosphere broadcast by the television station BMFTV.
Despite everything, the Macronist policy considered it "normal for this indignation to be expressed" and plans to meet with the various trade union organizations early in the afternoon.
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"We have to be available and listen to the citizens, that's what I did, even if there is tension or if they don't want to talk, but rather express their anger. I am here to listen to them," Braun-Pivet later assured, who estimated that "the French have the right to come and express their anger in front of the house of the people." Reaching the National Assembly was "a symbolic gesture," according to Edouard Legras, vice president of the agricultural union close to the far-right Coordinadora Rural, while its co-president, Bertrand Venteau, denounced that farmers "were not consulted" on the free trade agreement between the EU and South America, and regretted that "Mercosur is a done deal" and any subsequent adjustments, in his opinion, are "pure hot air." Venteau also lashed out at the government spokesperson, Maud Bregeon, whom he called "dishonest" and labeled her early morning statements as "unworthy," in which she called today's action in Paris "illegal" and "unacceptable," assuring that the Executive "will not allow that to happen," especially that they demonstrate in front of the National Assembly. For her part, the Minister of Agriculture, Annie Genevard, launched an appeal on her social media to "calm, a sense of responsibility and dialogue" in the acts of protest that are taking place in Paris and other places in the country. Genevard described the sector's claims as "legitimate," which is also protesting against the government's management of the outbreak of contagious nodular dermatitis and calls for administrative simplifications, as it considers European regulations too restrictive. "The dialogue continues. The fight I am leading to protect our farmers continues. Significant progress has been made this week at the European level, but the work is not finished," he added. For her part, the Minister of Finance, Amélie de Montchalin, added on the RTL radio station: "The figures do not add up. We are asking for safeguard clauses, reciprocity clauses for rules and controls. The European Commission owes us answers." "We said we would go to Paris, and here we are," declared the co-president of the Rural Coordination, Ludovic Ducloux, happy to see a hundred tractors parading through the capital and its surroundings, despite the prefectures' prohibitions. About twenty of them entered through the south gate of Paris before parking near the Eiffel Tower, at the Arc de Triomphe and at the Porte d'Auteuil, and then moving to the National Assembly. In total, according to the Ministry of the Interior, around a hundred tractors are currently in the capital and its surroundings, causing significant traffic disruptions. The A13 highway towards Paris was closed for several hours this morning. A police prefecture order prohibited the access of tractors to certain sensitive areas of the capital, such as the Élysée Palace, Matignon (Government headquarters) and Parliament. However, the tractors bypassed the obstacles and forced their way through the barriers installed on the outskirts and inside Paris, "sometimes taking totally reckless risks," Interior lamented. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, also lashed out at the farmers' action, denouncing the felling of some trees, at least one of which was protected, to block the streets. "Anger and the right to protest do not authorize such an act. Nature has its rights. We love our trees, a common good of Parisians, and we protect them," Hidalgo declared on his social media.
