French farmers driving tractors have followed through on their threat to blockade Paris for an indefinite period, halting eight major motorways into the city over regulations, pay and taxes. The Guardian reported Monday protestors had rejected concessions made by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on the weekend and promised to obstruct Paris by the afternoon. The first motorway barrage was reported around 2 p.m. when 30 tractors blocked the A4 — 32 kilometres east of Paris — in two directions. Soon after, the A13 — about 56 kilometres northwest of Paris — was blocked. Tractors were reported to have blocked other main routes, forcing drivers to use more congested side roads. As it became clear the farmers intended to encircle Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron held a crisis meeting with a few cabinet ministers on what was being called Operation Paris Siege. A weekly cabinet meeting — often held on a Tuesday but brought forward to Monday — was to be held after as Macron flew to Sweden for a state visit. As many as 1,500 tractors were expected to be used in the blockades, leading to 16 motorways in 30 French departments being affected by them. Around it, the tractors were expected to remain 32 to 40 kilometres outside of the downtown core, restricting routes in and out of it and disrupting access to the Charles de Gaulle-Roissy Airport north of it and Orly Airport in the south and major fresh food market Rungis. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 15,000 police officers and gendarmes had been mobilized to prevent the tractors from entering Paris and other cities where protests were happening and to keep access open to the airports and Rungis. Darmanin warned farmers blocking Rungis, which supplies 60% of Paris’s fresh food to about 12 million people, would be crossing a red line. Authorities advised drivers to cancel or postpone all non-essential road travel. “The aim is not to annoy the public but to get answers from the government to come up with further measures,” said Ile de France Young Farmers President Clement Torpier. Federation Nationale des Syndicats D'exploitants Agricoles Greater Paris Basin Director Stephane Sanchez said the blockade was being organized with “almost military precision.”“We’ve thought of everything and have prepared meticulously,” said Sanchez. “We’re not leaving anything to chance in order to make it a real long-term siege.”If there was no acceptable response from the French government, Sanchez said the farmers would block non-motorway roads. Attal will be meeting with farmers’ union leaders later on Monday. This ordeal comes after German farmers threatened on January 18 to repeat their protests if the government did not drop its planned subsidy cuts hitting the agriculture sector. READ MORE: German farmers threaten renewed 'Freedom Convoy' protests next weekThousands of German farmers had blocked roads with tractors for one week, seeking to overturn plans by the government to scrap tax breaks for agriculture. “If nothing comes on agricultural diesel, the next protests and action will start from the coming week,” said German Farmers’ Federation Head Joachim Rukwied.
French farmers driving tractors have followed through on their threat to blockade Paris for an indefinite period, halting eight major motorways into the city over regulations, pay and taxes. The Guardian reported Monday protestors had rejected concessions made by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on the weekend and promised to obstruct Paris by the afternoon. The first motorway barrage was reported around 2 p.m. when 30 tractors blocked the A4 — 32 kilometres east of Paris — in two directions. Soon after, the A13 — about 56 kilometres northwest of Paris — was blocked. Tractors were reported to have blocked other main routes, forcing drivers to use more congested side roads. As it became clear the farmers intended to encircle Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron held a crisis meeting with a few cabinet ministers on what was being called Operation Paris Siege. A weekly cabinet meeting — often held on a Tuesday but brought forward to Monday — was to be held after as Macron flew to Sweden for a state visit. As many as 1,500 tractors were expected to be used in the blockades, leading to 16 motorways in 30 French departments being affected by them. Around it, the tractors were expected to remain 32 to 40 kilometres outside of the downtown core, restricting routes in and out of it and disrupting access to the Charles de Gaulle-Roissy Airport north of it and Orly Airport in the south and major fresh food market Rungis. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 15,000 police officers and gendarmes had been mobilized to prevent the tractors from entering Paris and other cities where protests were happening and to keep access open to the airports and Rungis. Darmanin warned farmers blocking Rungis, which supplies 60% of Paris’s fresh food to about 12 million people, would be crossing a red line. Authorities advised drivers to cancel or postpone all non-essential road travel. “The aim is not to annoy the public but to get answers from the government to come up with further measures,” said Ile de France Young Farmers President Clement Torpier. Federation Nationale des Syndicats D'exploitants Agricoles Greater Paris Basin Director Stephane Sanchez said the blockade was being organized with “almost military precision.”“We’ve thought of everything and have prepared meticulously,” said Sanchez. “We’re not leaving anything to chance in order to make it a real long-term siege.”If there was no acceptable response from the French government, Sanchez said the farmers would block non-motorway roads. Attal will be meeting with farmers’ union leaders later on Monday. This ordeal comes after German farmers threatened on January 18 to repeat their protests if the government did not drop its planned subsidy cuts hitting the agriculture sector. READ MORE: German farmers threaten renewed 'Freedom Convoy' protests next weekThousands of German farmers had blocked roads with tractors for one week, seeking to overturn plans by the government to scrap tax breaks for agriculture. “If nothing comes on agricultural diesel, the next protests and action will start from the coming week,” said German Farmers’ Federation Head Joachim Rukwied.
