French farmers keep up protests with roadblocks and oil depot blockades

"French farmers have vowed to keep up the pressure with blockades on motorways and at ports on Monday, while blockades at oil depots were broken up by police over the weekend. After the arrival of tractors convoys in Paris last week, French farming unions say they intend to continue protests on Monday, with blockades planned on major routes including the A1."

"Farmers calling themselves ' douanes agricoles' (farmer customs officers), opened up lorries to inspect the good inside. In the south-west the A64 and A63 motorways are still severely disrupted by blockades, with local authorities threatening the use of force to lift the blockades. The préfecture has also banned all 'undeclared demos' in the south-west town of Bayonne. On Sunday evening, dozens of farmers blocked the A1 péage at Fresnes-Les-Montauban, near Lille."

"Farmers have also begun to target oil depots - the successful blockading of which in 2023 led to filling stations across France running dry. Members of the Coordination rurale union were blockading a depot near La Rochelle on Monday morning, while police broke up blockades of depots in northern France and the Bordeaux area over the weekend. The farmer protests began in south-west France in December over government rules on cattle culls in herds with cases of Lumpy Skin Disease."

French farmers have vowed to sustain blockades on motorways and at port facilities, planning actions on major routes including the A1. Convoys of tractors arrived in Paris and unions intend continued protests. Farmers enacted blockades at Le Havre and opened lorries for inspections under the name 'douanes agricoles'. The A64 and A63 in the south-west remain disrupted, and local authorities have threatened force and banned undeclared demonstrations in Bayonne. Protesters blocked the A1 péage near Lille. Farmers targeted oil depots, with Coordination rurale blockading a depot near La Rochelle while police dismantled other depot blockades. Protests began over cattle cull rules amid Lumpy Skin Disease and expanded to oppose the EU–Mercosur treaty.

Read at The Local France