Not just there France. The protest by farmers blocking roads and highways with tractors is spreading. And not just in Italy, where there have been dozens of protests for several days. Today it was our Spanish colleagues who announced the mobilization Belgium have announced that they want to close the access roads to the container port for 36 hours Zeebruggeon the North Sea. On Thursday, at the EU summit, the European Commission announced that it will present a proposal for a new derogation from the minimum quotas of land lying fallow in order to access Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funding. .
France – After the farmers' roadblocks around Paris began yesterday, Monday January 29, they continue today and – according to the general director of Sanef (French highways), Ranaud Quémard, “the entire access to the capital has been blocked”. Farmers slept in their tractors on the A1 from the north, the A4 from the east, the A6 from the south and the A13 from the west. In the middle of the day, all other motorways were closed, the A10 in both directions, the A15 towards Paris, the A5 and the A16. According to the police, there were roadblocks around Paris They affected a thousand farmers and “just over 500 tractors.” Farmers also transported food, generators, water tanks and portable construction site toilets on the blocks. Organize shift changes at roadblocks until the evening.
Meanwhile, today the French Prime Minister Gabriel AttalDuring his first long-awaited general policy speech to the National Assembly in Paris, he referred to the need for a “French agricultural exception” and promised that the government “will respond immediately and without ambiguity to the appointment” to reassure farmers' situation. protests. “Our agriculture – explained Attal – is our strength and also our pride. That is why I say it solemnly here: there must be an exception for French agriculture.”
Spain – Spanish farmers have announced that they will join the European protest movement and call for mobilization across the country. Agricultural organizations Asaja, Coag And Upa They announced a calendar of protests to demand a “change in European policies and a shock plan of state interventions in favor of the territories against the crisis that the sector is experiencing”. This was reported by the Efe agency, emphasizing that the “protests are consistent with those of other European farmers”.
Belgium – Further north, Belgian farmers have announced they intend to block access roads to the Zeebrugge container port for 36 hours. Here too, the blockades have been going on for days. The situation on the roads remains complicated across the country. In the morning the first tractors reached the area European Parliament Around 300 vehicles were attacked in Brussels and the Walloon city of Namur. Yesterday the Association of Young Belgian Farmers (FJA) threatened a total blockade of the capital between tomorrow and Thursday, coinciding with the EU summit.
Italy – The demonstrations also continue on Italian territory. In Liguria, around thirty people and a dozen tractors from Vallescriva arrived at the toll booth of the Busalla motorway on the A7 Genoa-Milan. There had been moments of tension in the last few days Toll booth locations, on the A1, where the tractors tried to block traffic on the motorway, but police intervened and prevented the raid. Today the climate heated up in the port of Cagliari, where shepherds also joined the protest. “We have wanted to demonstrate for some time,” Alessio Pilia, a farmer, told Ansa, “but the protest of our French friends convinced us to make our voice heard.” A new garrison could be put into service tomorrow Port of Oristano. Until 400 tractors They then met in front of the toll booth of the A/1 Valdichiana motorway of the Autostrada del Sole in Tuscany between Sinalunga (Siena) and Foiano della Chiana (Arezzo). Protest also similar Grosseto where around 50 tractors and several heavy vehicles blocked one side of the old Aurelia, now Provincial Road 154, as they tried to reach the capital from the south of the Maremma. Finally, in the Milan area, over 250 tractors More than 400 farmers, especially from the provinces of Milan, Pavia and Lodi, met in the area in front of the toll booth of the Melegnano motorway.