Cash flow plan, floor price… What to remember from Emmanuel Macron's announcements at the agricultural show

Emmanuel Macron, en bras de chemise, au milieu des agriculteurs, une méthode qu'il affectionne. MAXPPP – Olivier CORSAN

Waited at the Porte de Versailles by very angry demonstrators, the President of the Republic spoke twice this Saturday morning with representatives of the agricultural world.

Emmanuel Macron will have wet his shirt this Saturday morning at the agricultural show. Expected by farmers gathered in hall 1 who did not hesitate to confront the police, the President of the Republic held two meetings with representatives of the agricultural world, one behind closed doors, the other in front of the cameras. In shirt sleeves, among farmers, as he likes to do to show the image of a head of state going into the field. "I prefer dialogue to confrontation", he began, recalling: "I haven' not  waited for the crisis to commit to agriculture, before calling for calm.  "The show has to go well because for your colleagues, it’s sometimes months, even years of work. They rode with their animals, with their work to show it".

"I can't pay for my daughter's canteen"

Two hours of debate followed during which farmers took turns talking about the difficulties they were experiencing. One of them had strong words: "A farmer commits suicide every two days. Me, I work 100 hours a week and I haven't made an income for three years", he told her, assuring that he almost went to&# 39;act last summer. "We are short of cash, we have to help us, we have to act very, very quickly". A wine grower from Gard completed : "I can't pay for my daughter's canteen".

Au Salon de l'agriculture. https://t.co/FvUhllUxin

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 24, 2024

An emergency cash flow plan

Silent for a long time except to distribute the floor, taking careful notes, Emmanuel Macron then gave his answers, sometimes with difficulty when the farmers doubted the relevance of his proposals. The strongest, precisely to respond to the urgency of certain situations: "As of Monday, we will bring together at the national level, MSA and banks, to imagine a guarantee system. And, department by department, we will launch a census of farms in difficulty and set up a case-by-case system. We have an emergency cash flow plan to launch".

The floor price promise

Another important promise from the President: "that we can achieve floor prices that will protect agricultural income&quot ;, as part of the preparation of a new law governing relations between food stakeholders. Emmanuel Macron repeated it: "We must recognize in the law agriculture and food as a major national issue". This floor price& ;nbsp;should be based on the agricultural production cost indicator on which each agricultural sector (poultry, milk, beef…) had to agree on to objectify the costs of production of farmers. "It's the most engaging thing we have ever done", punctuated Emmanuel Macron.

Pesticide, controls…

Many subjects were still raised. The Head of State, for example, repeated his desire to prevent a pesticide from being banned in France before the rest of the European Union, to avoid distortions of competition, while recalling the efforts already made in this area. In particular, he wants to eliminate the strategic phytosanitary advice, "which is a real gas factory", to better help farmers on a case-by-case basis to reduce their use of dangerous products. 

Emmanuel Macron promised even more clarity on the various controls that farmers can undergo. "When there is public aid, it's normal for there to be controls. But we are going to organize them better to avoid having ten different controls from different administrations, and even put in place a right to make mistakes" , he summarized. 

"The France farm remains strong"

The President, showing his detailed knowledge of agricultural issues, has repeatedly repeated his intention to defend in Brussels the interests of French agriculture on numerous subjects, "as we did it to prevent, this year, the obligation to set up fallows.  Above all, he made an appointment with farmers in three weeks "at home", at the Elysée. After a dig at his political adversaries accused of making "easy proposals that solve nothing", he also called for "not paint a catastrophist portrait" of the situation because "the France farm remains strong. Certainly, certain sectors are in difficulty but there is a reality: France produces and exports two thirds of the calories it produces.

Emmanuel Macron was finally able to cut the ribbon, officially inaugurating the agricultural show, before taking a stroll through the aisles which seemed impossible in the morning. Successful communication move. This Saturday morning, if he did not resolve the agricultural crisis, he managed to avoid the disastrous image of a president forced to hide in the cold. ;Elysée.

Salon de l’agriculture : Emmanuel Macron s’arrête au stand Aubrac pour évoquer l’avenir de l’élevage ⁦@Salondelagri⁩ pic.twitter.com/zHubyUcvwn

— Yannick Povillon (@YPo_Midilibre) February 24, 2024

The uprisings of the earth: the “anger” of the president

In the morning, Emmanuel Macron did not hide his his annoyance at à the situation. But above all he became “angry”, a term he himself used, when journalists asked him why he had invited the environmental movement The uprising of the earth a debate finally canceled; &agrav; because of the controversy that followed. "It's nonsense, I didn't invite' a movement that I asked for the dissolution in the council of ministers", he expressed. However, it was those around him who had mentioned this. this invitation.