French farmers plan to blockade Paris despite government concessions

Organizations representing French farmers have threatened to blockade Paris for an unlimited period from early on Monday afternoon in support of demands for better working and living conditions.
The young farmers' union and the FNSEA umbrella organization representing local agricultural unions said their blockade would start at 2 pm (1300 GMT), with all the main routes into the French capital blocked. The two unions represent the majority of French farmers.
Farmers from the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France plan to blockade Rungis, the huge wholesale food market some 13 kilometres to the south of Paris.
French police are to deploy in force to prevent planned the blockade the French capital.
A total of 15,000 officers as well as armoured vehicles and helicopters will be mobilized, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Sunday evening.
They are to ensure that the capital as well as the major airports Paris-Charles de Gaules and Paris-Orly as well as the Rungis wholesale market remain accessible.
Images from the Paris police prefecture showed armoured vehicles already taking positions on Sunday evening.
The interior minister emphasized that it was not about a showdown, but rather an orderly conduct of the protests.
He said police would not intervene at blockade posts themselves.
Public buildings are to be protected and foreign haulage trucks should be guaranteed safe travel through France, Darmanin added.
On Friday, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced major concessions to the country's farmers after days of protests that saw tractors used to block roads.
He said the increase in the tax on agricultural diesel would be withdrawn, emergency aid of €100 million ($109 million) would be provided to farmers affected by storms, and help would be organized for winegrowers suffering from overproduction.
A number of regulations and procedures would also be simplified with immediate effect. "France is an agricultural power and a country that loves its farmers," Attal said during a visit to a farm near the Spanish border. "We don't want to be dependent on others for our food."
But FNSEA head Arnaud Rousseau told the La Tribune Dimanche newspaper that Attal had addressed only some of the union's 122 demands.