Dozens of French farmers arrested during protest at Arc de Triomphe

French police on Friday arrested 66 people at a farmers' protest at the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysees in central Paris. The action comes amid anger in the French and European agriculture sectors over rising costs and falling revenues. 

Farmers collective Rural Coordination led an action around the Arc de Triomphe, blocking the top of the Champs-Élysées with straw bales and tractors, on March 1, 2024. © Patrice Martin/RFI

Farmers used tractors and bales of hay to block traffic on the avenue, not far from President Emmanuel Macron's office, the Elysée Palace.

Protest organisers, the Rural Coordination collective, said the demonstration was aimed "at saving French agriculture".

It wants quick action, it added, to save 45 percent of French farms in financial distress.

The farmers arrived in the early hours of the morning and held up banners around the famous monument, which was also at the centre of Yellow Vest protests in 2018.

Farmer Axel Masson said about 100 of his peers had gathered at from 3am "in a peaceful and law-abiding manner".

Après la prise de la Bastille et celle de Rungis, pacifique, la @coordinationrur rend hommage à l'arc de triomphe pour sauver notre agriculture française. Stop à la cogestion qui a fait disparaître près de 800 000 vaches de nos prés. @franceinfo @CNEWS @BFMTV pic.twitter.com/i4ONwcMyGL

— Coordination Rurale (@coordinationrur) March 1, 2024

Masson said the farmers laid a wreath in memory of their colleagues who had been driven to suicide by financial woes, adding: "The state is not listening to us."

The demonstration wrapped up around 9am when police intervened, according to journalists at the scene.

Among the 66 people taken into custody was Patrick Legras, one of the figures of Rural Coordination.

• Farmers' protests in France: a long and sometimes deadly history

'Illegal' action

Junior Minister for Agriculture Agnès Pannier-Runacher said the protest had not been declared and was therefore considered "illegal".

"Everyone must respect the law," she told Sud Radio.

"This does not mean that we should not listen to the anger of farmers and that is what we are doing by taking very concrete measures, emergency measures."

Pannier-Runacher said financial aid was on its way directly to the farmyards.

• Paris Agriculture Show opens as angry farmers continue quarrel over costs

'Excessive rules'

Farmers across France and Europe have been protesting for weeks over what they say are excessively restrictive environmental rules, competition from cheap imports from outside the European Union, and low incomes.

Friday's action came just ahead of the last weekend of France's annual Agricultural Show, where politicians from across the spectrum have been attending in a show of support for the sector.

Macron's visit on Saturday was met with angry whistles while protesters clashed with police.

Weeks of roadblocks and a potential "siege" of Paris were called off at the start of February after the government proposed certain measures, including a pause in the implementation of the Ecophyto plan to reduce pesticide use.

But farmer unions have continued to pressure the government for more concrete measures to address costs, while local groups have continued intermittant road and highway blockages.

(with AFP)