France tractor protests: Dozens arrested as farmers break into huge Paris food market
Dozens of farmers were arrested on Wednesday night as they stormed a wholesale food market dubbed the “belly of Paris” that feeds 12 million people daily.
Emmanuel Macron’s government had warned farmers besieging the French capital not to approach airports or Rungis, the vast food distribution hub to the south of Paris which is the world’s largest fresh food market.
But that failed to take into account the level of anger over what farmers view as unacceptably low pay, stifling red tape, as well as unworkable European agricultural policy and unfair competition from foreign rivals.
On Wednesday night a group of 91 evaded police to break into the sprawling site, also known as “Paris’s fridge”.
The Telegraph witnessed their action as protesters briefly entered a storage area.
They insist they caused no damage. However, the few who made it inside were forcibly removed by heavily armed riot police, who then surrounded them and placed them all under arrest for “damaging goods”.
Among the farmers were brothers Thomas and Pauric Hegarty, born in Ireland and who run a goat and cattle farm in the central Limousin region.
“We always said we would get this far, to Rungis and into the building. That’s what we did today. We made it inside. And now we’ve all been arrested,” said Thomas Hegarty, 30, whose family owns a farm in Ireland and one in Saint Bonnet de Bellac, with 300 dairy goats and 100 Limousin cattle.
CRS police in full body armour and shields looked on impassively as the blue lights of their vans flashed in front of the cavernous food warehouses. Armoured cars were parked nearby.
Mr Hegarty said: “We’re here to protest against EU regulations like the Green Deal and French regulations. It’s just too much paperwork and far too restrictive.
“We can’t produce enough anymore to make a living. It’s just getting harder and harder. This green deal is all to produce less food, use less pesticides and use less fertiliser. But when you produce less and don’t get any more money for it, you go out of business.”
Among those under arrest inside Rungis was Serge Bousquet-Cassagne, president of the Coordination Rurale union for the Lot-et-Garonne département, in southwestern France.
He was part of a convoy of around 200 tractors that had sought to reach Paris from Agen. Police blocked many when they reached the bridges of the Loire river, but the farmers split up and some managed to make it.
“We got inside peacefully. We put our hands up. Now we’re accused of damaging property and we all have been arrested and sent to the police station. It’s absurd; We’re in the land of nutters,” said Mr Bousquet-Cassagne.
While farmers belonging to the largest FNSEA union and the Jeunes Agriculteurs chose to remain at eight points outside Paris, Mr Bousquet-Cassagne and his colleagues chose a harder line, namely “to blockade Rungis and try to get into Paris too”, as he put it on Wednesday morning.
Gabriel Attal, the prime minister, invited Mr Bousquet-Cassagne and colleagues on Wednesday afternoon to Paris for talks without their tractors.
After a “very frank two-hour exchange”, the unionist said that “progress” had been made and that Mr Attal was due to make announcements on Thursday morning on “better remuneration and dropping environmental rules and cutting a hell of a lot of red tape,” he told The Telegraph.
Despite this, farmers chose to enter Rungis because “that was our ultimate aim and farmers keep their word”, said Bousquet-Cassagne by way of explanation.
He said his colleagues on tractors over 12 miles from Rungis “are also being arrested and detained like us”.
“They want to break our morale. We gave Gabriel Attal a way to getting out of this with his head held high and he sends in the cavalry,” he said.
Earlier, police said 18 people seeking to blockade Rungis had been arrested for “interfering with traffic”. Prosecutors said 15 of them were taken into custody.
The batch of 10 tractors came from the Haute-Saône, eastern France, after taking small roads to avoid police.
Frédéric Ferrand, a cereal farmer from Lavoncourt, said he was not arrested as he arrived in a van rather than a farming vehicle.
“Our young farmers who have been arrested are heroic. The government didn’t want us to get here but the young farmers are a lively lot and determined,” he said, adding that “they had had to use unorthodox methods such as crossing fields to get here”.
“The aim is not to break things but to send a message,” he added. “We cannot sell food beneath production costs. We can’t keep working with totally ill-adapted European policies. The latest Common Agricultural Policy reform has not been designed with farmers in mind. It’s impossible.
“Everything is so slow. It takes farmers to threaten a blockade to be heard. Is that normal?”
Christophe Chou, 56, a farmer from Vesoul, also in the Haute-Saône, said: “We drove at night without headlights or flashing lights. When they cornered us, we turned around and drove through fields and forests.”
Vincent Meunier, 45, a cereal farmer from Venere in Haute-Saône, was the only tractor driver allowed to remain in front of Rungis to drive them under police surveillance to a nearby car park.
“We don’t have enough pay to feed our families. It’s not complicated. I earn almost nothing with my farm – from zero to €15,000 per year, not even the minimum wage. I have to work on the side.”
French authorities have offered concessions, with Mr Attal telling parliament on Tuesday that his government stood ready to resolve the crisis, claiming “France must be granted an exception for its agriculture” in Europe.
Temporary relief
The European Commission said it would offer temporary relief this year from contentious rules requiring some farmland to be left fallow ahead of a key European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday.
It will also set up measures to limit fallout from Ukrainian farm produce entering the EU, after tariffs were lifted in response to Russia’s invasion.
France also opposes a trade deal between the EU and the South American Mercosur bloc – a key grievance for protesters – being signed in its current state.
Bruno Le Maire, the finance minister, said there would be closer monitoring of European food trading platforms to ensure that “farmers’ income is not the first thing to be sacrificed in trade negotiations”.
But farmers said the promises, including assurances of higher CAP payouts, did not go far enough, even though France is the biggest beneficiary of EU farm subsidies, receiving more than nine billion euros.
A police source said that as of midday Wednesday there were 6,500 protesting farmers and 4,500 tractors on French roads, blocking 80 spots along major roads.
Beyond Paris, convoys were also attempting to encircle Lyon, France’s third-biggest city, and set up blockades around, or demonstrate in, several other locations, causing heavy disruption to commuter traffic.
A huge majority of French – 85 per cent – continue to support the farmers’ protests, according to a poll by the Elabe institute for BFMTV. Some 64 per cent of them also approve of a blockade of Rungis market and 70 per cent support the “siege” of Paris.
Another French union, Confédération Paysanne, said it was blockading “four sites linked to logistics platforms” for major supermarkets it says are undercutting farmers, in the Loire-Atlantique, Isère, Vaucluse and Cher areas.
Elsewhere, Belgian farmers blockaded highways and the Zeebrugge container port, causing gridlock on the surrounding roads.
Farmers from several European countries will head to Brussels on Thursday to pile pressure on government leaders at their summit in the European parliament.
French and Belgian farmers on Wednesday teamed up in their protests against low pay and red tape by blockading crossing points between the two countries.
“It’s a message sent to the European Union, Belgians and French, we are all in the same boat,” one farmer said. “If the commission does not hear our anger, I fear that the movement will harden further.”
The head of France’s largest farming union suggested that protests may end in violence as he called for “everyone to calm down”.
Arnaud Rousseau, president of the FNSEA, said: “I am honoured that there are no police officers or gendarmes injured. Will it hold? I don’t know.”
06:11 PM GMT
Thanks for reading
Here’s a summary of today’s main developments:
Farmers push on to Rungis despite warnings from authorities
Armed police stationed outside of Rungis to block farmers reaching market
Farming union head urges ‘everyone to calm down’
French and Belgian farmers coordinate blockades at key crossing points between the two countries
Belgian farmers blockade major port with tractors
Seven in 10 people in France ‘support a siege of Paris’
05:52 PM GMT
Mapped: The French farmer blockades
Hundreds of tractors left Agen bound for Rungis, the food market known as the “belly of Paris”, on Monday to demonstrate against low food prices and rising costs.
The farmers have blockaded key roads into Paris and have faced off against armoured police vehicles at particular junctions.
05:42 PM GMT
‘Farming is dying’, say Italian demonstrators
Italian demonstrators held up placards saying “farming is dying” as agricultural protests spread across the continent.
Dozens of tractors drove in a noisy convoy through the northern city of Cuneo with banners, including one reading: “No farmers, no food, no future”, according to reports.
They have yet to reach the levels of demonstrations in France, Germany or Belgium but the numbers and frequency of protests are growing.
Coldiretti, Italy’s main agricultural association, said Italian farmers would demonstrate in Brussels on Thursday alongside those from other countries against the EU’s agriculture policies.
04:44 PM GMT
Tractor convoy stops short of international market
Most of the convoy of tractors that set off from Agen, southwestern France, is blocked 20km (12 miles) from Rungis, according to BFMTV.
The streets are too small to get through, and the farmers have decided to stop for safety reasons. They are waiting for José Perez, the leader of the movement, to decide their next move.
04:37 PM GMT
Watch: Farmers enter Rungis market enclosure
#Agriculteurs La tension monte à #Rungis, ou des militants de la #Coordinationrurale sont entrés dans l’enceinte du marché et font face à des policiers dépassés qui ont demandé du renfort pic.twitter.com/NOBs8CBdpF
— Manuel Magrez (@manuelmagrez) January 31, 2024
🔴⚠️ FLASH INFO - Un groupe d'#AgriculteursEnColeres a réussi à pénétrer sur le site de #Rungis ce mercredi soir. pic.twitter.com/7zgvbU1rL6
— ActuCenter (@ActuCenter) January 31, 2024
04:33 PM GMT
Tractor convoy is 'on the way to Rungis'
Jean-Baptiste Chemin, 48, the first farmer in a large convoy driving from the Lot-et-Garonne departement, southwestern France, arrived in Rungis in a lorry.
“I’ve come all the way from Agen. We had to split up because the police didn’t want us to cross the Loire river so everyone went their own way and here I am. But don’t worry the rest are on their way,” he said.
“We said we would make it to Rungis and we’ve made it. Let’s see what happens.”
“What concessions have the government given? Not enough that’s for sure,” he said.
04:30 PM GMT
'The police won't be able to stop 250 tractors'
Vincent Meunier, 45, a cereal farmer from Venere in Haute-Saône, was the only tractor driver allowed to remain in front of Rungis to drive them under police surveillance to a nearby carpark.
“Don’t worry, reinforcements are on their way,” he said. “The police couldn’t stop 10 tractors. They won’t be able to stop 250,” he told the Telegraph.
“We don’t make enough pay to feed our families. It’s not complicated. I earn almost nothing with my farm – from zero to 15,000 euros per year – not even the minimum wage. I have to work on the side.”
04:27 PM GMT
Pictures: Farmers block Paris highway in 'siege' of capital
04:16 PM GMT
Hauliers sound the alarm over blockades
Already in crisis, and blocked by farmers for several days, French hauliers on Wednesday called for “very short-term support measures” for their “battered” businesses.
In a press release, the Union des Entreprises de Transport et de Logistique de France (TLF) said: “Our companies are suffering unacceptable blockades of their activities, both on the main roads and at logistics sites and around ports and airports.”
The organisation warned of “the dramatic consequences of this situation, which has gone on for far too long”.
04:14 PM GMT
Seven in 10 'support a siege of Paris'
A majority of French continue to support the farmers’ protests, according to a new poll conducted by the Elabe institute for BFMTV.
Some 85 per cent back the farmers’ movement. Some 64 per cent of them also approve of a potential blockade of Rungis market. Some 70 per cent support the “siege” of Paris.
Among Parisians themselves, 56 per cent back the siege – which has little effect on their daily lives – while 48 per cent are for blocking Rungis, despite the fact that it could lead to food shortages.
While 59 per cent of French feel the government’s concession are “in the right direction”, only seven per cent think they go far enough.
04:08 PM GMT
Thousands of farmers blocking major roads, say police
Police say there are 6,500 protesting farmers and 4,500 tractors blocking 80 spots along major French roads, Luca Rufo writes.
In addition to moving on Paris, convoys are also attempting to encircle Lyon and set up blockades around several other locations across France, causing heavy disruption to commuter traffic.
“Unless proper decisions are made, there’s a good chance we’ll be back here or at some other spot next week,” Samuel Allix, a potato farmer in the Bordeaux region, said.
03:51 PM GMT
Belgian farmers blockade port with tractors
Belgian farmers blockaded highways and a major port as protests across environmental regulation and low pay intensify across Europe.
More than 100 tractors blockaded the Zeebrugge container port, according to organisers, causing gridlock on the surrounding roads.
Local media reports a major highway has also been blocked.
Farmers from several European countries will head to Brussels on Thursday to pile pressure on government leaders holding a summit in the European parliament.
European Commissioners have already proposed limiting imports from Ukraine and allowing flexibility on fallow land rules in a bid to quell protests.
A contentious trade deal with South America, which farmers fear will expose them to competition unhindered by EU standards, looks set to be blocked by France.
03:44 PM GMT
'It's a message to the European Union'
French and Belgian farmers have reportedly teamed up in their protests against low pay and red tape by bloackade crossing points between the two countries.
Tractors have been used to block traffic heading from Bettignies, Jeumont, Erquelinnes, Malplaquet or Cousolre, French media reports.
“It’s a message sent to the European Union, Belgians and French, we are all in the same boat,” one farmer said. “If the commission does not hear our anger, I fear that the movement will harden further.”
03:05 PM GMT
30 tractors evade Loire roadblocks
Dozens of tractors have managed to evade roadblocks and are heading for Rungis and Paris, police admitted.
While most farmers have been blocked from crossing the Loire after armoured vehicles were deployed, around 30 tractors made it over the bridges.
“We have thirty tractors that managed to sneak in. But the objective is to slow them down,” a police spokesman told broadcasters.
“We are not trying to prevent them from circulating, but there are points that they will not be able to pass.”
02:57 PM GMT
Who is Karine Le Marchand, the French Jeremy Clarkson?
A French tractor driver blockading Paris told The Telegraph on Monday that the country’s farmers needed a celebrity figurehead like Britain’s Jeremy Clarkson.
In Karine Le Marchand, they just might have found one.
The presenter of a reality TV show which helps lonely French farmers find a life partner has become a figurehead for the protesters after joining their blockade outside Paris to tell them: “The French are with you”.
However, she has gone up another notch in farmers’ eyes after turning up to a tractor camp at Jossigny, east of Paris, on Monday to lend her support to their “siege” of the French capital and other major cities.
Read the full article from Henry Samuel here.
02:30 PM GMT
Police given apples in goodwill gesture
Farmers have handed out apples to police and gendarmes as a gesture of goodwill near Paris.
The gifts were a “homage to Jacques Chirac, a very good minister of agriculture”, one farmer explained.
Mr Chirac was known for his love of apples and made them a symbol of his 1995 presidential campaign.
It comes after Arnaud Rousseau, the leader of France’s largest farming union, warned protesters against clashing with law enforcement.
02:08 PM GMT
Town blockaded by hundreds of tractors
A town in western France has been blockaded by hundreds of tractors, French media reports.
Between 600 and 1,000 tractors are said to have descended on La Roche-sur-Yon in the Vendée, although police insist traffic movement is still “partially possible”.
01:56 PM GMT
Mercosur trade deal 'would be unbearable for farmers'
A trade deal between South American countries and the EU would mean “unbearable difficulty” for farmers, the French agriculture minister has said.
Marc Fesneau told the National Assembly: “We managed to block these negotiations because we believe that this agreement, as it stands, is unfair. It would put our farmers in an unbearable difficulty.
“There is no question of letting tens of thousands of tons of livestock enter European soil that do not respect the same standards and the same rules that we impose on our breeders and our producers.”
01:48 PM GMT
Pictures: Gendarmerie's armoured vehicles block tractor convoys
01:30 PM GMT
Farmers arrive at Europe's largest market as 18 arrested
French farmers have begun arriving in tractors to Europe’s biggest market with police announcing 18 people have already been arrested.
The market is being guarded by armoured vehicles as farmers embark on their third day of protests against low pay and environmental regulations.
Police have taken a “defensive posture” to prevent a convoy of an estimated 250 tractors from reaching Rungis, which is known as “the belly of Paris”.
Armoured vehicles have also been stationed in Loiret to block them from crossing the Loire river, as well as closer to the market itself.
An unspecified number of people were reportedly arrested in front of the market, while 18 others were detained close by for obstructing traffic.
01:19 PM GMT
French minister hails EU's 'pragmatic' agriculture move
The French agriculture minister has welcomed the EU’s decision to soften fallow land regulations that have incensed farmers.
Marc Fesneau wrote on social media:
Months of work from France, a coalition built patiently with all of the European colleagues whom I thank, a simple and pragmatic solution which combines transition and production.
Thank you to [the] EU Commission for granting this legitimate and fair request.
Des mois de travail de la France, une coalition construite patiemment avec l’ensemble des collègues européens que je remercie, une solution simple et pragmatique qui conjugue transition et production. Merci à la @EU_Commission d’avoir fait droit à cette demande légitime et juste. https://t.co/4r4RiGjon9
— Marc Fesneau (@MFesneau) January 31, 2024
01:14 PM GMT
Traffic disruption as Loire bridges closed
French authorities have warned of traffic disruption after closing bridges at Jargeau, Châteauneuf-sur-Loire and Sully-sur-Loire to the public.
Protesters travelling in a large convoy of tractors had intended to cross the Loire before heading north to Rungis and Paris.
01:05 PM GMT
Pictures: Tractors reach Rungis as protesters push north
12:34 PM GMT
Union head warns against clashes with law enforcement
The head of France’s largest farming union has suggested that protests may end in violence as he called for “everyone to calm down”.
In comments reported by French media, Arnaud Rousseau, president of the FNSEA, said: “I am honoured that there are no police officers or gendarmes injured. Will it hold? I don’t know.”
Authorities recently arrested 18 farmers who parked in front of the Rungis international market – a “red line” that protesters have been warned not to cross.
12:26 PM GMT
Jeremy Clarkson sends message of support to French farmers
Jeremy Clarkson threw his weight behind France’s farmers as they besieged Paris and other French cities on Tuesday, wishing them “good luck” in a message entirely in French.
The ex-Top Gear presenter’s words of encouragement came as Emmanuel Macron blamed war-torn Ukraine for intensifying the European agricultural crisis by flooding the market, notably with poultry, and undercutting France.
Agriculteurs français. Je parie que personne n'a jamais dit cela auparavant, mais bonne chance, venant d'Angleterre.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) January 30, 2024
Clarkson, 63, whose Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm chronicles his attempt at running a 1,000-acre farm in the Cotswolds, posted a short message on X, formerly Twitter.
The English translation is: “French farmers. I bet no one has ever said this before but good luck, coming from England.”
Read the full story from Henry Samuel here.
12:16 PM GMT
Arrests made after 10 tractors reach Rungis market
Ten tractors managed to reach Rungis’ international market around 10am this morning, according to French media.
They were accompanied by a police escort and were arrested as soon as they parked near the entrance. A source at the market said it unfolded “peacefully”, adding: “We were waiting for them.”
12:08 PM GMT
Belgian farmers blockade container port
Belgian farmers have embarked on their own protests against low pay and red tape by blockading the Zeebrugge container port.
More than 100 tractors are taking part in the demonstration, according to an organiser. Local media reports a major highway has also been blocked.
11:52 AM GMT
Several tractors turned back at Loire bridges
Tractor convoys heading for Rungis have been prevented from crossing the Loire river by the gendarmerie at several points, French media reports.
The bridges of Jargeau, Châteauneuf-sur-Loire, Sully-sur-Loire and Gien have been blocked. Around 30 tractors are said to be heading back towards Pithiviers.
11:28 AM GMT
Interior minister confirms armoured vehicle deployment
Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, has formally confirmed that armoured vehicles have been stationed south of Rungis:
Reinforcements, in particular armored vehicles, have been sent to Essonne and Loiret to firmly prevent access to Rungis.
At the operational center of the gendarmerie, I recalled my instructions: agricultural events must be able to be held without exceeding the lines that I set at the beginning of the week.
Des renforts, notamment de véhicules blindés, ont été envoyés en Essonne et dans le Loiret pour empêcher de façon ferme l’accès à Rungis. Au centre opérationnel de la gendarmerie, j’ai rappelé mes instructions : les manifestations agricoles doivent pouvoir se tenir sans dépasser… pic.twitter.com/D7lHL0W16h
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) January 31, 2024
11:25 AM GMT
Tractor convoy blocked from crossing Loire
A local union leader has declared that a tractor convoy will “pass at all costs” after being blocked from crossing the Loire by authorities.
José Perez, of Coordination rurale, told French media that farmers will “remain peaceful” but want “real answers”.
💬"On passera coûte que coûte"
Le co-président de la Coordination Rurale du Lot-et-Garonne bloqué par les forces de l'ordre ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/UgjK5i0rEi— BFMTV (@BFMTV) January 31, 2024
11:02 AM GMT
EU considering 'emergency brake' on Ukraine imports
The EU Commission has said it is envisaging an “emergency brake” for poultry, eggs and sugar from Ukraine amid farming protests across the continent.
Emmanuel Macron blamed war-torn Ukraine for the crisis on Tuesday, claiming the European market had been destabilised by Ukrainian chickens and cereals.
10:47 AM GMT
Armoured vehicles in 'defensive posture' near Rungis
The National Gendarmerie has stationed armoured vehicles south of Rungis, in Loiret and Essonne, to prevent farmers from reaching the international market.
The “defensive posture” is intended to prevent members of the Coordination rurale union from “reaching Rungis and firmly prevent access to Rungis”, sources close to interior minister Gérald Darmanin said.
10:34 AM GMT
Pictures: Farmers target biodiversity office in Dijon
10:29 AM GMT
Fishermen dump nets to protest 'unbearable' regulations
Fishermen on Wednesday dumped fish and nets in front of a marine state building in Nantes, western France, to protest against a month-long fishing ban and what they called “regulatory pressure”.
From 5:30am, around 20 fishermen from several ports in Brittany hung banners on the building reading “Fishermen, farmers, same fight” and “We want to feed, not die”.
Frozen fish, fishing gear and nets were thrown at the front of the North Sea-Atlantic-Western Channel intergovernmental headquarters (DIRM NAMO).
“We’ve come to express our frustration. We’re at each other’s throats. The pressure of French and European regulations is unbearable”, said David Le Quintrec, a fisherman from Lorient, Morbihan.
To protect dolphins that have been dying by the hundred, many caught in nets, most French and foreign fishing boats will have to remain docked in the Bay of Biscay until Feb 20.
The government has promised state compensation. The one-month ban, which is due to be repeated in the winters of 2025 and 2026, was decided after France’s Council of State called on the government to reduce the number of dolphin deaths.
10:26 AM GMT
Reports: 18 farmers arrested near Rungis
Eighteen farmers have been arrested a few miles south of Rungis for obstructing traffic, French media reports. Police sources said they were attempting to head to the international food market.
10:19 AM GMT
'The police want to slow us down – but we're resourceful'
Serge Bousquet-Cassagne, president of the Coordination rurale union for the Lot-et-Garonne département, said farmers are heading for Paris despite warnings from the authorities:
Our aim remains the same and hasn’t changed, namely to blockade Rungis and try to get into Paris too.
We’re about 200 to 250 tractors and 200 to 300 individual vehicles, between 600 to 700 people.
We don’t want to say anymore because we’ve got the cops at the end of the road and we’re going to get ready to cross the bridges over the Loire. It’s blocked. Apparently, the government doesn’t want us to cross the Loire.
We’re going to try and manoeuvre... with the utmost respect for the police and the public, and in the hope that no one will get hurt and no property will be damaged.
We’re going to feint, a word from a rugby country where the feint pass is always successful. The police are there to slow us down, to make us run out of steam like they did yesterday, but we’re resourceful.
10:12 AM GMT
Pictures: Tractor convoys converge on Paris
10:06 AM GMT
Agriculture minister: France alone opposes Mercosur pact
The French agriculture minister has said an EU trade agreement with South America would expose its farmers to “unfair competition”.
Marc Fesneau told Sud Radio that France had not been given “clear answers” to its concerns and was “quite alone at the European level” in opposing the Mercosur deal.
10:03 AM GMT
‘South America trade deal is not good for our farmers’
France has vowed to block a trade deal being signed between the EU and South American countries as it is rocked by farming protests.
Farmers have repeatedly objected to an EU-Mercosur deal, claiming they will not be able to compete with rivals who are not bound by strict environmental laws.
Bruno Le Maire, France’s economy minister, told broadcasters: “This Mercosur deal, as it stands, is not good for our farmers. It cannot be signed as is, it won’t be signed as is.”
The European Commission acknowledged on Tuesday that its deal was “not quite there yet” but said talks were continuing.
10:03 AM GMT
Morning
Hello and welcome to the live blog. Benedict Smith here. We’ll be bringing you the latest developments on the third day of the French farmers’ protests, as hundreds of tractors attempt to cross the Loire and head for Paris.
