PARIS: France´s top farmers´ union won a number of concessions from the government on Friday after it blockaded major routes into Paris in protests focused on pay, taxes and regulations.
Facing his first major crisis as prime minister, Gabriel Attal visited a cattle farm in the Haute-Garonne department in southwest France, scene of the first motorway roadblocks, to announce the measures.
“You wanted to send a message, and I´ve received it loud and clear,” he told his audience. “I have been listening.”
Attal said the government would “put an end” to the rising cost of diesel fuel used for farming machinery which has been a consequence of tax breaks on the fuel being phased out.
There would also be an emergency fund to help cattle farmers battle illnesses among their livestock.
“We have decided to place agriculture above everything else,” Attal said.
The government has been trying to keep discontent among farmers from spreading months ahead of European Parliament elections which is seen as a key test for President Emmanuel Macron´s government.
Friday´s encirclement of the capital followed days of disruption on motorways as well as tractor convoys through major cities and protests in front of government buildings.
Protesters on the A10 motorway west of Paris hung an effigy of a farmer in overalls from a mock gallows.
The A1 motorway heading north from Paris was blocked from Friday morning by tractors and hay bales, causing big jams.
