Support for French livestock farmers
July 22, 2015
The French government announced a financial package worth up to 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) on Wednesday to support its livestock farmers and try to halt protests which have escalated in recent days into road blockades in the northwest.
French farmers say they are struggling on account of falling prices, tough competition and a squeeze on margins by food processors and retailers. In recent days, they have blocked access to roads and motorways, dumped manure in cities, and hindered tourists from reaching Mont St Michel in northern France, one of the country's most visited attractions.
"The aim of the government's plan is to deal with the emergency but also to bring sustainable solutions," Prime Minister Manuel Valls said at the presidential Elysee Palace after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Tax breaks and debt relief
French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll, who has said about 10 percent of livestock farmers were on the brink of bankruptcy, detailed 24 measures including tax breaks and debt relief for struggling farmers.
The package offers up to 600 million euros ($655 million) worth of tax exemptions and delayed payments that would cost the French treasury about 100 million.
In addition, the state would guarantee up to 500 million euros worth of loans for producers through its public investment bank, mainly to reimburse debts to suppliers. That would cost the government another 100 million euros.
France's largest farm union FNSEA welcomed the plan. "This is going in the right direction," FNSEA chairman Xavier Beulin told reporters. Farmers were starting to lift some of the blockades.
A combination of changing dietary habits - French consumers are eating less meat - and foreign competition has driven down pork, beef and milk prices. At the same time, Russia's embargo on European food imports and a milk surplus linked to the end of EU quotas, lower Chinese demand and supermarkets' pricing power have further dented French farmers' profits and morale.
sri/dk (AFP, Reuters)