Farmers block roads across France to protest low wages and countless regulations
French farmers are staging protests across the country and in Brussels against low wages and what they consider to be excessive regulation, mounting costs and other problems
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.French farmers staged protests Wednesday across the country and in Brussels against low wages and what they consider to be excessive regulation, mounting costs and other problems.
Roadblocks were spreading in many French regions, one day after a farmer and her daughter died due to a traffic collision at a protest barricade.
Farmers have also been turning road signs upside down to protest what they argue are nonsensical agricultural policies.
Some were planning to protest in Brussels, home to EU headquarters, where French farmers' union Rural Coordination called for a demonstration against the “ever-increasing constraints of European regulations and ever-lower incomes.”
The protests are the first major challenge for newly appointed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who took office two weeks ago, and his government. Attal met with farmers' unions representatives on Tuesday.
Following the meeting, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau promised to make new proposals to respond to the crisis by the end of the week, including regarding food prices and simplifying regulations.
Arnaud Rousseau, head of France's major farmers union FNSEA, said his organization would release a list of 40 necessary measures later on Wednesday. Speaking on France 2 television, he said the protest movement was aimed at “getting quick results."
On Tuesday, a car carrying three people rammed into a barricade of straw bales in the town of Pamiers, in the Ariège region of southwestern France. A 36-year-old female farmer was killed. Her 12-year-old daughter died later in hospital, the local prosecutor said in a statement.
Police detained the three occupants of the car for questioning.