Farmers have blocked roads for days in protest at falling prices. They accuse supermarkets and the food industry of keeping prices low, forcing many of them into bankruptcy.
Major roads have been blocked near Poitiers in the west, but the farmers’ anger was most visible in Normandy and Brittany. Some 200 farmers attacked a supermarket in the Breton town of Lannion late on Tuesday night, dumping manure at the entrance and setting alight to tyres.
Announcing a list of 24 measures, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said €100m of taxes would be annulled and a further €500m would be set aside to allow farmers more time to pay taxes and other debts. A fund to help farmers restructure their debts would be increased from €8m to €50m and the public investment bank (BPI) would guarantee up to €500m in loans to the farming sector in a further attempt to alleviate the cash crisis.
The most affected regions are 03, 14, 18, 42, 49, 50, 61, 59, 76, 80, 85, 86, so deliveries in these regions may incur delays.