PARIS, France: French farmers brought traffic to a crawl around Paris and gathered outside the National Assembly on May 26, using their tractors to send a clear message: support proposed legislation that would ease farming regulations.
The demonstration was triggered by a wave of amendments from left-wing lawmakers to a bill that farmers say is vital for cutting red tape and protecting their competitiveness. The draft law seeks to simplify the approval process for breeding facilities and irrigation reservoirs and to re-authorize the use of acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide banned in France but still permitted elsewhere in the EU.
“We’re asking the lawmakers, our lawmakers, to be serious and vote for it as it stands,” said Julien Thierry, a grain farmer from the Yvelines department, criticizing members of the Greens and France Unbowed (LFI) parties.
The protest comes amid broader tensions across the EU, where several governments are scaling back green regulations in response to mounting pressure from farmers over rising costs and falling profits. Critics of the French bill argue it favors industrial-scale agriculture at the expense of small-scale and organic farmers.
Environmentalists and certain unions have condemned the draft, saying it would erode critical safeguards for biodiversity. But supporters argue that the pesticide in question—acetamiprid—is less harmful to wildlife than other substances in its class and helps shield sugar beet crops from destructive pests.
Farmers used their tractors to block at least six major highways in Paris, disrupting rush-hour traffic. Others rallied peacefully in front of parliament along the Seine as lawmakers debated the bill inside.
The FNSEA, France’s main farming union, backed the protest, calling for simplified regulation to make French farming more competitive globally. The group maintains that excessive bureaucracy has become a drag on the sector, especially in light of cheaper imports and high operating costs.
The demonstrations follow last year’s nationwide wave of farmer protests, which led to some concessions from the French government on subsidies and competition laws.
Whether this latest bill survives in its original form remains to be seen, but the farmers’ message was loud and clear: They want fewer hurdles and more support, not more scrutiny.