Farmer protests in France have forced the French government to cave following nationwide blockades and international support for the protesters.
On Thursday, two of France’s main farming unions agreed to suspend protests and lift road blockades across the country.
The decision came after the government announced measures that deemed “tangible progress” in the ongoing revolt against the European Union’s (EU) “climate-driven” initiatives.
The EU’s globalist, World Economic Forum-derived policies are designed to wean the public off non-insect-based, “carbon-emitting” food such as meat and dairy products.
Meanwhile, China, India, and other heavily polluting nations get a free pass from the green agenda.
In addition to France, protests have been held in Belgium, Portugal, Greece, Germany and elsewhere.
Last week, tensions came to a head in Brussels when farmers threw eggs and stones at the European Parliament building.
They were demanding that EU leaders stop punishing them with more taxes and raising costs to finance the WEF’s “Net Zero” agenda.
After French farmers stepped up protests earlier in the week, the government promised on Thursday to extend protections – including better controlling imports and giving farmers additional aid, Reuters reports.
“Everywhere in Europe the same question arises: how do we continue to produce more but better?” said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, announcing the new measures.
“How can we continue to tackle climate change?
“How can we avoid unfair competition from foreign countries?”
In response, France’s main farmers union, FNSEA, announced that it was time to lift the blockades and “go home.”
Arnaud Gaillot of the Young Farmers’ Union echoed the message.
However, both unions warned that other types of protests would continue, and they’d be back if the government didn’t make good on its promises.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, farmers began protesting Thursday evening.
#BREAKING #Ireland JUST IN: Farmers' protests began in Ireland. pic.twitter.com/rJ6lsCnkgG
— The National Independent (@NationalIndNews) February 1, 2024
“There’s a general dissatisfaction with the level of environmental regulation that is being heaped on farmers, the low margins, and (the) resulting low income the farmers have been suffering from for a very long time now,” said Cathal MacCarthy, media director for the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, EURACTIV reports.
“There will be a great deal of sympathy and solidarity with the aim and ambitions of the protests both in Ireland and on the Continent.”
“They feel they are being regulated out of business by Brussels bureaucrats and Department of Agriculture officials who are far removed from the reality of day-to-day farming,” said Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) President Francine Gorman on Wednesday, ahead of the protests.
The concerns of the Irish beef and dairy farmers echo the concerns of other European farmers who have been protesting for weeks.
MacCarthy said Irish beef and dairy farmers also believe they are not being compensated fairly for the agrifood products they cultivate, given the increased costs involved in production as a result of environmental regulations.
“We need senior politicians to face consumers and say, ‘Lads, listen, the cost of producing this food is X, that has to be paid, and the margin that allows farmers to live (has to be paid), but we can’t just be dependent on what the supermarket feels like charging their customers,’” he said.
“We can either continue to have cheap food, or we can have environmentally sustainable food, but we can’t have both,” said MacCarthy.
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