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Sébastien Lecornu’s letter was not enough to calm the farmers’ anger. Their mobilization is still ongoing, with blockages and some roadblocks.
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A procession of taxis in the middle of the A63 motorway. It is here, at a blockage point near Bordeaux, that around thirty drivers came to join the farmers this Saturday, December 20: “We know that they are in great pain, that they fill our plates, so it was important for us to support them”.
Dozens of farmers have been mobilized here for several days to protest against the government’s management of the lumpy skin disease epidemic and they do not intend to break camp, at least before Sunday. “And if we unblock, we will still look like people to whom we promised something, they left and then in the end we will have nothing. So we will try to maintain it as much as possible, even if we have to get through the holidays,” Ludovic Ducloux, winegrower and co-president of Rural Coordination 33.
Despite the government’s call for a truce for the Christmas holidays, several blockades were maintained on several highways. The 63, the A64 and also the A75 where farmers continued to block an entire portion of the highway, despite fatigue: “We are all a little worn out, a little on edge and we would like everything to end well for everyone”.
The farmers were obviously not convinced by Sébastien Lecornu’s statements. Friday, December 19, to try to extinguish the anger, the Prime Minister sent a letter to the agricultural unions with this announcement: “To deal with the immediate economic impacts, I have set up a support fund of 11 million euros.” A support fund which should be mainly dedicated to small farmers in difficulty.
But for the FNSEA, a union of agricultural operators, the account is not there: “Expected in particular on compensation for stranded animals, is not there. The FNSEA expects the Prime Minister to review his copy.” This Saturday, December 20, the general secretary of Rural Coordination, another agricultural union, announced possible other mobilizations from January, if there is no further progress by then.
