President Macron of France braved violent protests by angry farmers when he opened the Salon de l’Agriculture, an annual fair, amid discontent over costs, bureaucracy and “green” regulations that has recently swept Europe.
Lines of riot police tried to prevent farmers, who were booing and shouting, “This is our home”, from forcing their way into the fair, delaying its official opening by Macron on Saturday by more than four hours.
Macron, who met farmers union leaders for breakfast, denounced the protesters. “I’m saying this to all farmers: you’re not helping any of your colleagues by smashing up stands; you’re not helping any of your colleagues by making the show impossible, and in a way scaring families away from coming,” he said.
The French leader, 46, went ahead with a planned walkabout, mingling with visitors and sampling produce. He provoked anger by cancelling a debate with farmers, food processors and retailers but said he would meet sector representatives at the Élysée Palace in three weeks instead.
Protesters were kept well away from the president, but their chants and whistles were audible when he visited Oreillette, a cow from Normandy, who was chosen as the star of the show’s 60th edition.
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The fair, which attracts 600,000 visitors over nine days, is a major fixture in the French political calendar. It is seen as a symbolic test of the relationship between the president and rural voters, an important constituency.
This year’s event is four months before the European parliament elections, likely to be won by the right-wing National Rally, which has wooed farmers with its anti-EU and anti-green stance. Jordan Bardella, 28, the party’s president, is likely to be given a considerably warmer reception when he visits the show on Sunday.
The scale of the protests against Macron — who until now had experienced nothing worse at the fair than an egg thrown while he campaigned for the presidency in 2017 — indicated the extent of unrest in the French countryside.
Farmers blockaded roads around France last month and threatened to lay siege to Paris. There have also been protests other EU countries, including Germany, Greece, Poland and Belgium.
• Why are farmers protesting in France and across Europe?
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French farmers suspended their disruption this month after Gabriel Attal, the prime minister, promised new measures for the sector worth €400 million. Unrest erupted again in the build-up to the show in an apparent attempt to maintain pressure on the government.
On the eve of the show, the government announced an “emergency support package” worth an extra €5 million, plus an action plan to help beekeepers in financial difficulty.
More protests are expected in Brussels on Monday when European agriculture ministers meet to discuss further measures to appease farmers that could include exempting them from certain EU environmental standards.
