The farmers were protesting against low earnings, regulation and what they call unfair competition from abroad.

Arnaud Rousseau, chief of the biggest rural union FNSEA, and Young Farmers (JA) President Arnaud Gaillot held a news conference to announce the suspension of the action on Thursday.

The announcement followed promises of cash, eased regulations and protection against unfair competition by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, the government’s second wave of concessions in a week.

Gabriel Attal’s speech came as convoys with hundreds of farmers created chaos outside the European Union’s headquarters, demanding leaders at an EU summit provide relief from rising prices and bureaucracy.

“The question is currently being asked throughout Europe: Is there a future for our agriculture? Of course, the answer is yes,” Attal said.

A farmer stands atop a tractor to take a picture during a protest called by local branches of major farmer unions [Frederick Florin/AFP]

Attal announced that France was banning, starting immediately, imports of fruits and vegetables coming from outside the EU that have been treated with Thiaclopride – an insecticide currently banned in the bloc.

He also said no pesticides would be banned in France that are authorised elsewhere in the EU. The statement was in response to a demand by French farmers who have denounced stricter regulations in France on pesticide products than in neighbouring countries.

‘Tangible progress’

France will propose the creation of a “European control force” to combat fraud, he said, particularly regarding health regulations, and fight against the import of food products that do follow European and French health standards.

Attal also reaffirmed that France would remain opposed to the EU signing a free-trade deal with the Mercosur trade group.

“There is no question of France accepting this treaty,” he said.

The government’s goals with the newly announced measures are “to give food its value back” and “to boost farmers’ income, to protect them against unfair competition and to simplify their daily life”, he said.

Attal also announced 150 million euros ($162m) in aid to livestock farmers and a decrease in taxes on farms being transferred from older generations to younger ones.

Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau, speaking after Attal, announced a two-billion-euro ($2.16bn) package to fund loans for those who are setting up as farmers.

The French government has said it will fine food industrial groups and supermarkets that do not comply with a 2018 law meant to pay a fair price to farmers. The fine can reach up to 2 percent of sales revenues to companies that do not comply.

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While police say the number of protesters in Ottawa is dropping, a blockade that starts Monday at the vital Ambassador Bridge linking Canada and the United States is disrupting trade. The bridge, one of the busiest border crossings on the continent, handling around 8,000 trucks a day, reopened on Tuesday for U.S.-bound vehicles, but the Canada Border Services Agency’s website showed lanes from the United States were still closed on Wednesday.

Business associations on both sides of the border have called for the reopening of the bridge. “As our economies emerge from the impacts of the pandemic, we cannot allow any group to undermine the cross-border trade that supports families on both sides of the border,” they said in a joint statement. “Everyone has the right to protest peacefully … but the economic and social harm that these protests are having here in Windsor and Ottawa and across Canada is quite significant,” Mayor Drew Dilkens told reporters at a briefing.

“This cannot be allowed to be sustained for any length of time. Action will have to be taken to reopen this bridge,” he said, adding that the city had asked for additional resources from federal and provincial governments to deal with the protests. The bridge closure has already caused a shortage of parts at the carmaker Stellantis’s (STLA.MI) assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario. The company said it had to end shifts early on Tuesday, but the plant was able to resume production Wednesday morning.

“We are working with all relevant partners to see this come to a swift conclusion and we will continue to do everything we can to support Canadian workers and businesses,” Canada’s Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said on Twitter.

Protesters have also been blocking another border crossing at Coutts, Alberta, police said on Tuesday, the same day the main oil-producing Canadian province announced plans to ease pandemic restrictions.

Starting as a “Freedom Convoy” opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border truckers mirrored by the U.S. government, the protest is about much more. Demonstrators have aired a litany of grievances encompassing COVID-19 health measures, a carbon tax and other legislation.

“We continue to know that science and public health rules and guidance is the best way to this pandemic is the way we’re going to get to the other side,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters as he entered a Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday.

Downtown residents criticized police for their initially permissive attitude toward the blockade in Ottawa, but authorities began trying to take back control Sunday night with the seizure of thousands of liters of fuel and the removal of an oil tanker truck.

Protesters say they are peaceful, but some Ottawa residents have said they were attacked and harassed. Criminal investigations are underway into, among other things, attempted arson at a downtown apartment building.

While tougher policing has dissuaded some demonstrators, Deputy Police Chief Steve Bell has said many of those remaining in Ottawa were highly “determined and volatile.” Police have made 23 arrests so far.

Police have asked for reinforcements – both officers and people with legal expertise in insurance and licensing – suggesting intentions to pursue enforcement through commercial vehicle licenses.

The office of Canada’s public safety minister, Marco Mendicino, confirmed on Tuesday that they were in talks to provide more officers as well as tactical troops, joint intelligence and community liaison teams.

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