Strengthening of Egalim, transfer of farms, aid for breeding... What to remember from Gabriel Attal's announcements for farmers

New announcements to try to reduce the anger of farmers. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and his government presented new measures this Thursday, February 1, while mobilizations continue in France - but also in Brussels - and many highways are still blocked in Île-de-France. Initial announcements on simplification, the Egalim law or even the abandonment of the increase in the GNR tax last Friday were not sufficiently convincing.

Gabriel Attal has decided to take a safeguard clause “without delay” to prohibit the importation of fruits and vegetables produced with the pesticide thiacloprid, banned in France. The head of government wants the opening to other markets to take place with reciprocity of rules and the “same requirements for all”.

The Prime Minister wants, more generally, that a European control force be set up to “fight against fraud and the importation of products which do not respect our rules”. He reiterated France's opposition to the treaty between the EU and Mercosur, and said he was moving forward with the negotiation of safeguard clauses on Ukrainian chicken.

The Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, announced “safeguard clauses” to defend French agriculture on the European market. This will notably include the ban on products resulting from deforestation or which have been treated with pesticides.

Gabriel Attal expressed his desire to “strengthen” the Egalim law, which governs commercial relations between the agricultural and food sectors. In the process, the boss of Bercy, Bruno Le Maire, decreed a “phase of massive controls” of the law, thanks to the work of “150 fraud repression agents”.

The State thus retains the right to “inflict sanctions when necessary”. The Minister of the Economy also recalled that four pre-injunction procedures with a view to sanctions have been initiated against certain industrialists. All the largest supermarket chains will be inspected “in the coming days”, including for private label contracts. The contours of the Egalim law will also be the subject of an evaluation mission, said Bruno Le Maire.

The government wishes to include “the objective of food sovereignty in the law”, which will be accompanied by the publication of an “annual report”, the first of which will be published before the Agricultural Show, scheduled for Paris at the end of February.

The government wants to fight against the overtransposition of European standards. “We are going to reset the European calendar and the French calendar” on the approval of phytosanitary products, promised Gabriel Attal. The executive also wants the French health agency to no longer comment on whether or not to ban a product which is, at the same time, under examination at European level.

Bruno Le Maire finds it “unacceptable” that the mention of French origin is “circumvented” by “a certain number of industrialists”. The Minister of the Economy announced 10,000 checks, with sanctions “which could reach 10% of the turnover” of distributors. Gabriel Attal wishes to carry out work at European level for better labeling of the origin of products.

France will request a “clear” definition of synthetic meat at European level. It does not “correspond to our conception of French food,” assured Gabriel Attal. The Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau also promised a future publication of the decree, updated after being overturned by the courts, to “fight against those who use terms which are not applicable to anything other than meat”.

While the Head of State is traveling in Brussels, Gabriel Attal calls from Matignon to “put an end to all naivety” in the face of Europe and “the arrival of standards that we no longer want”. Reason why the Prime Minister announced a “derogation from the obligation to reestablish” meadows for farmers. Way, he assures, to “better protect our meadows while getting out of totally absurd situations where farmers are forced to reestablish meadows even though they have stopped their livestock farming”.

The government will “pause” the “Ecophyto” plan which must set objectives for reducing the use of pesticides, announced the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau. “We are therefore going to rework the Ecophyto plan, putting it on hold, while we rework a certain number of aspects and simplify it,” he promised.

The government also promised a new envelope of 150 million euros “in long-term fiscal and social support” for breeders. Work will take place with each sector to clarify the distribution arrangements.

Farmers can request a partial refund of the tax on non-road diesel (GNR) from this Thursday and payments will be made within two weeks, which will represent a cash advance for them. The government has promised that from July, the tax rebate that farmers benefit from on GNR would be applied upon purchase, and no longer after the fact with proof. In the meantime, they can “benefit from the 50% advance on the reimbursement of the GNR”, as announced by Gabriel Attal last Friday.

“Transmissions of farms are a guarantee of generational renewal,” assured Bruno Le Maire. The Minister of the Economy announced that the exemption thresholds will be raised on transfers of agricultural goods. A mission will be launched in the coming months to “remove the concrete obstacles to transmission”, particularly in the wine sector.

The government will “rework current proposals on the subject of the best 25 years” concerning farmers’ pensions, as recommended in a report by LR MP Julien Dive. “Retirement is always the fruit of a life of work. We must ensure that if there is a new system, it must obviously not create losers, particularly among the most vulnerable,” explained Gabriel Attal.

“There are too many farmers who tell us that they cannot harvest because they are unable to harvest,” explained Marc Fesneau. To facilitate hiring, the Minister of Agriculture announced that the agricultural sector would now be recognized as a profession in shortage. The salary of these seasonal workers will also be increased from 1.2 to 1.5 SMIC.

“There is no agriculture without water, but climate change is putting pressure on this resource,” insisted Christophe Béchu. A water plan must be presented in the coming weeks. A decree published in the Official Journal must simplify the rules for cleaning water for farmers, at the heart of the debates after the floods in the north of France.

“When we choose the campaign, we accept it and we assume it,” thundered the host of Matignon. A bill on “neighborhood disturbances”, tabled by Renaissance MP and farmer Nicole Le Peih, will soon be included on the agenda for “rapid adoption”, assured the Prime Minister. “It protects farmers from abusive recourse by new neighbors,” he explained, while conflicts between neo-rurals and farmers have increased in recent years.