French farmers set hay bales on fire to partially block access to Toulouse airport on Tuesday and parked tractors on highways near Paris. Farmers, who also want action against cheap imports, are seeking additional support from new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who will present his policy plans on Tuesday, and the Agriculture Minister, who is also expected to make a statement. In Belgium, farmers plan to block access roads to the Belgian container port of Zeebrugge, as farmers across Europe, including Germany, Poland and Romania, have also staged demonstrations in recent weeks. Spanish farmers also announced plans to take to the streets in February to protest tough European rules and a lack of government support, Reuters and AFP reported.

“Whatever happens, we are determined to go to the end,” farmer Jean-Baptiste Bongard said as crowds of farmers crowded around small bonfires on a highway in Josigny, near Paris, blocked by tractors in the early hours.

“If it’s going to take a month to move, it’s going to take a month,” said Bongard, who took over the family business in July and is finding it difficult to compete with foreign manufacturers who don’t follow the same rules.

A huge inscription at the protest “Save agriculture” was attached to the vehicle.

In Lonvilliers, also near Paris, the highway was blocked by tractors and hay bales.

The regional prefect said farmers had blocked the main entrance to Toulouse airport, but people could still gain access through nearby car parks. BFM TV reported that piles of hay and tires were set on fire at the roundabout in front of the airport.

Farmers in France, the EU’s biggest agricultural producer, say they are underpaid and suffocated by excessive environmental regulations.

Macron wants the EU to help farmers

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday he wants the European Union to regulate chicken and grain imports from Ukraine and allow flexibility in some of the bloc’s agricultural rules to help quell anger among French farmers.

“We asked for clear measures on imports from Ukraine, because today we have things in terms of volume and quality that are destabilizing the European market, be it chicken or grain,” Macron said during a state visit to Sweden.

Macron, speaking during a state visit to Sweden, also said that he does not want the draft trade agreement with the South American MERCOSUR bloc to be signed in its current form.

The French government will also try to persuade its EU counterparts to agree to ease the rules on uncultivated farmland.

“We asked for very specific things for our farmers,” said Macron, who will attend a summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday.

Mass protests in the EU

The protests have been going on for more than a week but intensified on Monday ahead of Thursday’s EU summit, and they hope their actions and those of other farmers across Europe will attract the attention of politicians focused on helping Ukraine and the bloc. budget.

The protests in France followed similar actions in other European countries, including Germany and Poland, ahead of European Parliament elections in June, in which the far-right targeting farmers is gathering support.

In Belgium, farmers outraged by the EU’s environmental policy and cheap imports plan to block access roads to the Belgian container port of Zeebrugge from Tuesday.

Protesters plan to block access to the North Sea port, the country’s second-largest, for at least 36 hours starting at 2 p.m. CET (1 p.m. GMT), the newspaper said, citing organizers and police, adding that the road blockade may last until Wednesday evening.

In France, the government, trying to avoid escalating protests and with a view to European elections, has already abandoned plans to gradually reduce subsidies for agricultural diesel fuel and promised to relax environmental regulations.

Large imports from Ukraine, on which the EU waived quotas and taxes following Russia’s invasion and renewed talks on a trade deal between the EU and the South American bloc Mercosur, have sparked resentment over unfair competition.

Imports are rejected due to pressure on European prices, but they do not meet the environmental standards set for EU farmers.