Twelve local (département) federations of agricultural workers’ unions (from the regions of Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Greater Paris, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Upper Normandy and Picardy) called on their members to demonstrate in Paris on March 25, in protest against the CAP Health Check-related decisions announced by the French Government on February 23 and which affect grain and oil/protein seed producers.  A number of awareness-raising and protest events had already been held in France over the previous month, expressing opposition to the harsh and arbitrary nature of the decisions.

   The government must take into account the scale of this movement which will only stop if field crop farmers are given opportunities to overcome the economic burden imposed on them by the government.
 
Accordingly, ORAMA is calling for immediate measures to be taken:
-         for the enforcement of the decisions made to be staggered over a number of years
-         for the options left open on February 23, which, if adopted would make the situation of many farms even worse, to be removed
-         for new measures to be implemented under the second pillar of the CAP so that farms producing field crops in difficult areas can make the changes needed.
 
The Prime Minister must provide positive responses to these requests when he addresses the FNSEA Congress on April 2.
 
Furthermore, the Public Authorities must take on the responsibility for the consequences of choices which they made, doing so through regulatory and tax measures to help producers make rapid improvements in their competitive standing and their ability to cope with both economic and climate contingencies.
   
Contact : Pascal HURBAULT, tél : 01 44 31 16 25