The French Green Left are Truly Mad

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Following the recent elections in France, which saw the emergence of an alliance of left wing political parties including the socialists, communists and greens, French farmers are looking with horror at what is coming their way.

You will recall the big protests back in January and February across France with farmers blocking streets with tractors as they complained about ever increasing EU regulations and falling incomes.

The EUs Green Deal, known as the ‘Farm to Fork’ initiative, set targets back in 2020 for a 50% reduction in the use of pesticides and 25% of farm land to be turned over to organic farming by 2030.

Even before 2030 their farmers are complaining that existing EU rules are so extreme they are unviable, they argue the incoming green policies are will make things worse and will ultimately be self-defeating as expensive European produce is replaced with cheaped imports.

Being summer time the farmers tractors are busy with harvest so they are watching and waiting to see what the new parliament will bring them, but all indications are its going to go from bad to mad.

Coordination Rurale,?the second biggest agricultural union with 15,000 members, has threatened to take up its ‘pitchforks’ if the Greens or the equally fanatical net zero enthusiasts La France Insoumise, join the new government and get to impose their agenda.

The Greens as usual live in an economic fairyland and believe in the fantasy that what they are proposing is essential to save the environment and make agriculture sustainable, in turn they are offering to throw money at farmers in an attempt to buy them off.

The one big thing they are offering is to cancel farmers’ debts!? It sounds too good to be true, and it is.

Their policy is a “transition to a green future” in which “we give farmers a three-year pay guarantee, paying them a wage during which they can change models” out of intensive production and into more sustainable farming options.

To that they are adding an end to trade deals: both French and EU Greens are historically opposed to such agreements, without some form of “green protectionism” clause.

In practice, this would mean imposing all the European-like standards on animal welfare, health, ?labour law, carbon and the environment onto countries looking to export to the EU.

The problem is France is influential in the EU and even if the French Greens don’t get their policy up, the pressure will continue to drag the European Union to demand the rest of the world follow their policies of restricting the use of fertilisers and ag chemicals plus adopting their animal welfare standards.

This will only encourage our Greens to mirror these policies which does not bode well for Australian farmers who will likely soon see the Greens and Teals holding the ALP to ransom if they stagger over the line in the upcoming federal election.

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