仏農家、各地で道路封鎖　パリ封鎖の呼びかけも

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】フランス政府が農機具用の軽油の免税措置を２０３０年までに段階的に廃止すると決定したことを受け、農家による抗議デモが続いている。２５日も各地で自動車道が封鎖され、一部の農業組合は首都パリの封鎖を呼び掛けている。（写真は、フランス・ストラスブールで、軽油の免税廃止などに対する抗議としてハイウエーを封鎖する農家）
　ガブリエル・アタル首相はパリ封鎖を回避するため、経済、環境、農業大臣を招集し、対応と救済策を協議した。
　大きな影響力を持つ組合ＦＮＳＥＡによると、農家らは各地の道路７７か所を封鎖した。
　若者による農業組合ＪＡの代表は、パリ封鎖は「最終手段」だとし、政府に「国をまひさせる」ことを回避するよう求めた。
　西部のレンヌとナントではトラクター数百台が道路に繰り出し、クラクションを鳴らした。絞首台の模型を掲げたり、発煙筒をたいたりもした。
　地元の組合幹部は、農家は農業で生計を立てることができなくなっているとし、「高品質な食べ物がほしいなら、相応額を払うべきだ」と訴えた。
　南西部ボルドーの環状道路では、トラクターがわざと低速で運転した。
　一部ではより過激な行動が見られた。別の組合幹部はＡＦＰに、南部モンテリマール近郊では、スペイン、モロッコ、ブルガリアからトマト、ピーマン、アボカドなどを輸送してきた外国のトラックを農家らが止め、荷台から野菜を運び出して行ったと話した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/01/26-16:30）

The French government on Thursday sought ways to end protests by farmers blocking motorways and demonstrating across the country after a fuel tax rise ignited long-standing grievances.
Newly installed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal summoned his economy, environment and agriculture ministers to confront his first crisis and decide on aid measures to fend off a possible blockade of the capital.
Attal would make concrete proposals to aid farmers on Friday, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau's office said after the talks.
Farmers blocked roads at 77 spots around France, the FNSEA union said. Its Paris region section and the Young Farmers (JA) called for a blockade of Paris.
Hundreds of tractors drove through Rennes and Nantes in the west of the country, blasting horns, brandishing mock gallows and setting off smoke bombs.
We're totally fed up because we can no longer make a living from our profession, said Nathalie Posseme, a local Confederation Rurale union official.
If people want quality food, they're going to have to pay for it, she added.
Elsewhere, hundreds of farmers blocked the M35 motorway near Strasbourg in the east while farmers on the A1 motorway outside Lille, close to the Belgian border, said they would spend the night on blockades.
Some routes were blocked around Avignon and Marseille in the south, according to traffic information website Bison Fute.
And in the southwest, there was a tractor go-slow around the Bordeaux ring road.
- 'Immediate answers' -
More aggressive protests included winegrowers forcing entry to two warehouses in the southern city of Beziers.
Some demonstrators near the southern city of Montelimar halted and emptied foreign trucks bringing Spanish, Moroccan or Bulgarian produce including tomatoes, peppers and avocados, FDSEA official Sandrine Roussin told AFP.
Farmers say they are being squeezed by a price battle between supermarkets and industrial buyers that is crushing their margins, and environmental rules on issues like leaving land fallow and pesticide use.
The last straw for many was a government decision to phase out a tax break on diesel fuel for farm machinery by 2030.
A new diesel tax rebate could be one of the government's forthcoming measures, while some lawmakers also want minimum prices introduced for farm produce.
The powerful FNSEA union demanded immediate answers on pay, urgent aid for sectors worst hit by the crisis and, in the long term, a plan to reduce regulations.
We are talking about several hundred million euros, FNSEA chief Arnaud Rousseau told AFP late Wednesday.
- 'Division and polarisation' -
President Emmanuel Macron's government is anxious to avoid a repeat of the massive 2018-19 yellow vest protests -- also triggered by a rise in diesel prices.
It has kept a nervous eye on recent protests by farmers in Germany, Poland and the Netherlands that have also raised concern in Brussels.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged on Thursday increasing division and polarisation in the agri-food sector, saying there is a sense of urgency that things have to improve.
Fishermen joined farmers protesting in Rennes, angered by a fishing ban along part of the Atlantic coast supposed to spare dolphins and porpoises. Owners of the 450 boats affected say they will lose tens of millions of euros.
In a bid to reduce tensions, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Wednesday ordered local authorities to exercise restraint and deploy police only as a last resort.
Speaking at a motorway roadblock, FNSEA head Rousseau said at this stage there were no plans to blockade Paris.
But Regis Desmureaux, his deputy for the Oise department north of the capital, told broadcaster BFMTV: We're moving forward about 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) a day and we'll definitely be at the edge of Paris on Friday or Saturday.
Young Farmers head Arnaud Gaillot said blockading the capital would be a last resort, but urged the government to avoid paralysing the country.
burs-ys/tgb/tw