From Farm to Pitchfork? A Very Parisian Siege

The so-called “siege of Paris,” which has seen angry farmers block highways around the French capital, is a far cry from the violent “Gilets Jaunes” protests that erupted in 2018 over President Emmanuel Macron’s reform agenda. Some 15,000 gendarmes and police officers have been deployed to ensure the city, host of this summer’s Olympic Games, gets fed. But judging by the chaotic search for a scapegoat, from free trade to the energy transition, the omens aren’t good for a lasting solution.

Even after a string of concessions by Macron’s new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, including a pledge to reverse a plan to raise taxes on farming fuel, and a fresh show of opposition from Macron to a free trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc, the tractors haven’t trundled home. That should raise eyebrows considering France treats its farmers pretty well on paper: Agricultural subsidies are the biggest line item in the European Union budget, and France their biggest recipient by country — equivalent to some €9.5 billion ($10.3 billion) in 2022. That year, the average farmer’s salary was around €50,000, according to government data, an above-middle-class wage, albeit one that masks a lot of disparities.