The day after a chaotic visit by President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal made a surprise visit to the Agricultural Show on Sunday February 25. The Prime Minister’s visit was not on his official agenda. But Gabriel Attal honored with his presence the anniversary dinner given in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Salon, Sunday evening in the “La Serre” space in the presence of the main leaders of the sector, after the site closed to the public.
“This show must remain what it has always been, a national holiday, joyful and serene,” he said during a speech. He returned to the measures announced the day before by the French president, in particular on the priority given to production and protection against unfair competition, while recalling that “the agricultural exception must not be a closure”.
“The French are not fooled by anything”
Succeeding Jordan Bardella, the president of the National Rally (RN), who walked the aisles in a normal atmosphere, contrasting with the images of the day before, Mr. Attal declared that “the French are not fooled by anything. Neither exploitation, nor lies, nor window dressing. (…) The show is neither a media circus, nor a political circus, nor an activist circus” and “farmers, our animals, our sectors are not a campaign setting” as the Europeans approach, insisted the prime minister, who then defended his record and attacked the RN. “Our enemy is not the foreigner, it is the law of the unbridled market.” And “you, who are agricultural professionals, know better than anyone that this agricultural exception should in no case be a closure. Because to give up trade is to condemn our agriculture to collapse,” he declared.
The executive seeks to extinguish the agricultural crisis, which had been brewing for months but exploded in January. Since then, MM. Macron and Attal have multiplied the announcements, without however succeeding in completely convincing farmers awaiting action.
“It was a mess,” admits the president
In an interview with Le Figaro on Sunday evening, the Head of State looked back on his eventful visit to the Agricultural Show on Saturday, recognizing that “it was a mess”. On Monday, he plans to hold a meeting to follow up on commitments with the ministers concerned. In this interview, the president once again criticizes the Rural Coordination. He recalls that “local decision-makers from the Rural Coordination are very officially involved in the National Gathering”. And added: “I’m not fooled by anything. The Salon has always been politically active, this is nothing new. But when you have hundreds of people with flags demanding Frexit, these are not agricultural movements, they are factual. »
Parade of political leaders
Gabriel Attal will return to the Salon on Tuesday where he will walk the aisles all day, with a break for questions to the government at the National Assembly. The main political leaders are expected this week at the Parc des Expositions: La France insoumise, the Socialist Party and Renaissance from Monday, where their representatives will possibly meet the boss of the Republicans Eric Ciotti and the head of the LR list for the European elections, François-Xavier Bellamy.
The LR president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region Laurent Wauquiez will go there on Wednesday, as will the boss of the communists Fabien Roussel and his head of the list Léon Desfontaines. Edouard Philippe will walk the aisles on Thursday. The leader of the Ecologists Marine Tondelier and the head of the list for the Europeans Marine Toussaint are announced on Friday.
