Construction and public works (BTP) professionals, fishermen, farmers, transporters and even taxi drivers carried out new actions on Monday, March 21, throughout the country to protest against fuel prices, believing that government announcements in this regard were not sufficient.
In Normandy, some 200 heavy goods vehicles were blocked for several hours near Torigny-les-Villes (Manche), at the entrance to the A84 motorway which connects Avranches to Caen. At the end of the afternoon, there were still 345 heavy goods vehicles stopped at a motorway exit roundabout in Guilberville, the prefecture told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The envelope of 400 million euros in aid to road hauliers and the rebate of 15 cents per liter of diesel announced last week by the government were not enough to appease the anger of the demonstrators.
Fuel prices still too high
While the price of road fuel sold in French service stations fell below 2 euros on average last week, falling for the first time since the start of the year, professionals in several sectors are still calling for a drop in the price. diesel and non-road diesel (GNR). Constantly rising in recent months, the price of these fuels has increased considerably since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
At the start of the afternoon, four ships were still blocking access to the Tréport trade basin, according to the prefecture of Seine-Maritime. At midday, between one hundred and one hundred and fifty fishermen blocked the port, according to the cooperative of artisanal fishermen in the town.
In Brittany, the strongest slowdowns were observed in Morbihan, around Lorient, with around 10 kilometers of traffic jams. Traffic resumed normally in the afternoon on the national road RN24 and the RN165, according to the prefecture.
Snail operations in several cities
Snail operations also took place on the Rennes bypass, as well as in Brest, Angers and La Rochelle. Around 4 p.m., several vehicles leaving from a Loire-Atlantique tollbooth were carrying out an action on the A83 towards Vendée. South of Lyon, a dozen trucks blocked shipments from the TotalEnergies refinery in Feyzin (Rhône), at the call of the Confédération paysanne and the Rural Coordination.
Taxi drivers have also joined the movement with snail operations in Orléans and Besançon. Near Marseille, hundreds of taxis blocked the logistics warehouses in the Miramas commercial area. According to Yazid Ziani, member of the National Taxi Federation, the increase in fuel prices represents a loss of 400 to 600 euros per month for taxis, “who earn an average of 2 000 euros per month ».
In Corsica, the island’s two oil depots, in Ajaccio (Corse-du-Sud) and Lucciana (Haute-Corse), were blocked by farmers who set up their tractors and trailers at 5:30 a.m. in front of the depot entrances, according to the prefecture. They are calling for a resilience plan specific to Corsica. In the Hauts-de-France, filter dams took place in Dourges (Pas-de-Calais) and the Lesquin (Nord) transport and logistics center.