Let it be said, Emmanuel Macron does not deviate. Came to inaugurate the 59e edition of the International Agricultural Show, Saturday, February 25, Porte de Versailles in Paris, the President of the Republic hammered throughout his thirteen hours of wandering that he would not yield anything. No question that he gives up on reforming the countries, starting with the postponement of the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years old. From its contested reform to food sovereignty, via the sobriety demanded by “end of abundance”the Head of State tried to convince himself, in the setting exalting the terroir of the largest farm in France.
For this first trip in contact with the French for months, everything had been thought out to stifle the unexpected. Thick security cordons of police initially kept the crowd at a distance. An embryo of a demonstration and its odds and ends placards (“metro job caveau”, “I’m 58 and I’m already broke”) was quickly evacuated. Onlookers waiting more than an hour, hoping to air their concerns about retirement, left empty-handed – including Santine, 71, former building caretaker, who receives a pension of 850 euros after her career cut short by a tendonitis. “It’s a day that must be dedicated to the agricultural worldrecalled the head of state in front of the cameras. There are expressions, they have to be respectful”.
“Those who have to make an effort on their margins are the distributors”
After caressing Ovalie, the muse salers cow of this edition, the President of the Republic delivered his many messages on behalf of the “food sovereignty”. “Quality food has a price”, he asserted to defend farmers, subjected to soaring production costs against a backdrop of war in Ukraine. That food inflation reaches 12% changes nothing. “We settled into a general discourse which is that food should cost less and less”lamented the Head of State, addressing an appeal to the large distribution. “Those who have to make an effort on their margins are the distributors”, he insisted, judging that most of them do not play the game.
Emmanuel Macron showed himself straight in his boots on the Mercosur agreement. “I held a position of firmness and I will continue to hold it”he warned, specifying that an agreement with the countries of Latin America will only be possible if it respects the environmental and health constraints that Europe imposes on its producers. “That’s loyalty”, he added. Regretting, however, that “70% of the meat served in restaurants is not French” et “that’s not Mercosur”. “We don’t need to be paranoid, we need to organize ourselves”he concluded, placing the ball in the field’s court.
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