Last week the country’s agriculture minister, Marc Fesneau, called for “a form of agricultural patriotism,” stressing this should not be seen as “a bad word.”
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal had to walk a tightrope as he endorsed French farmers’ criticisms of Brussels regulation, while stressing the benefits the EU’s agricultural subsidies bring to the sector. “We must remain firm in our determination to preserve our French-style agriculture,” Attal said last week, as he promised that Paris would fight in Brussels to relax farming rules.
French attempts to portray the farmers’ crisis as a European problem come just months before a European Parliament election, with opposition far-right leader Marine Le Pen piggybacking on the discontent and pointing the finger at the EU.
Siding with farmers and blaming Brussels could make sense as a short-term strategy for Macron’s team in order to suppress rural support for the far right in the June election.
“The French have a very good opinion of farmers and consider that their situation is very difficult,” noted Mathieu Gallard, research director at polling firm Ipsos. “French farmers traditionally vote for the right-wing parties.” A recent poll showed 82 percent of French voters backing the farmers’ protests.
But blaming Brussels could backfire and undermine Macron’s European green credentials, experts warn.