On the ground: French farmers block roads as protest edges closer to Paris

  • 8 months ago

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Transcript
00:00 Heavy traffic here as a group of 12 tractors is blocking cars, making
00:07 sure that traffic is as slow as possible. These farmers left the
00:13 small town of Merret in the evening outside of Paris. It's six o'clock
00:18 this morning. They took main roads and went onto a motorway, stopping
00:24 short of reaching Paris. But it's a way for them to say that, yes, they
00:28 can reach Paris if they wish to and cause disruptions. These farmers are
00:34 part of the Young Farmers Union. They're all under 38 years old. And
00:40 along with the FNSU, the largest union of farmers, released yesterday a
00:47 list of 100 measures they wish to see implemented immediately. A list of
00:53 measures addressed, of course, at the French government. Among these
00:57 measures, the immediate payment of EU aid subsidies that haven't been
01:04 paid yet. The farmers also want immediate financial help for the
01:11 sectors worst affected in the agricultural world here in France. And
01:17 on the short term, they want also the government to make sure they
01:21 reduce the number of norms, reduce the number of norms that they believe
01:27 are pointless and not helping them and a decent living. The French
01:31 government, on the other hand, working hard today to try to release in
01:36 the coming days a list of measures to try to meet the demands of the
01:41 farmers with many, many regions in France, unions telling us nearly all
01:46 of the French regions mobilised and organising protests today and in the

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