2024-01-21 15:58:50
His party is expected to put former Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandy at the head of the list for MEPs
The president of France Emmanuel Macron closely monitor the French risk farmers to rise in large protests like their counterparts in Germany.
He told his office to pay special attention to potential flashpoints for farmers to avoid further demonstrations and a new outbreak of the Yellow Vest movement, Politico reported.
A small number of farmers blocked highways in southwestern France on Thursday to protest issues such as water storage and a tax on tractor fuel.
The big question is whether these fears will translate politically, and hence who Macron will nominate as the front-runner for his Renaissance party.
Les Echos daily reported that Pascal Canfin, a Renew MEP and former head of the French branch of the environmental NGO WWF, is a strong contender to take the role. The problem is that Canfin represents the most ecological wing in the president’s camp and in an interview 7 years ago he accused France’s largest farmers’ union FNSEA of being stuck in the past. Despite some efforts at reconciliation, he continues to be at odds with farmers’ representatives.
Former minister friendly to farmers
For his part, Macron wants to prove that he is a friend of the farmers. On Tuesday, he pledged to “help farmers” as they transition to a green economy and “ensure they are never left without a solution.”
A person close to Macron said the French president was keen for Julien D’Normandy, a former agriculture minister, to head the party’s list for the European elections.
As agriculture minister, Denormandy championed farmers’ interests by opposing lab-grown meat products and insisting that EU trade policy should “impose its standards on others”, not the other way around. While in government, he repeatedly stated that France opposed the EU-Mercosur trade deal, which would have seen significant additional meat imported from South America.
Denormandy left politics in 2022 and joined the private sector, working as a consultant on environmental, social and corporate issues.
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