Max Bauer: 'Did you say food sovereignty?'
In December, Max Bauer, representing the national Coordination Rurale, took part in the work of the special plant production sector group, chaired...
The meeting was held at the Ministry of Agriculture, as part of the food sovereignty conferences. Promulgated on March 24, 2025, the agricultural orientation law provides for food sovereignty conferences, bringing together agricultural sectors, organized in 2026 under the aegis of FranceAgriMer. On this occasion, the minister declared: 'The aim is for the sectors to build a food sovereignty plan with the State for the next ten years.'
RECONQUERING THE DOMESTIC MARKET 'She wishes to regain market share in the domestic market, knowing that today one out of two poultry, 70% of fruit consumed or even 85% of cut flowers in France are imported. Her objective is to work on a quality entry-level range.
But is she aware that this reconquest will not happen 'at the snap of a finger', analyzes Max Bauer. On this subject, the agricultural trade unionist remains very skeptical: 'I do not believe that, in a few months, we will be able to answer questions such as production costs depending on the region, not to mention other parameters that are even more difficult to quantify.'
The observation is all the more bitter when one only has to refer to the results of the Egalim laws. 'There were 3 Egalim laws, passed in 2018, 2021 and 2023, and the original Egalim law, known as 'Egalim 1', came out of the États généraux de l'alimentation held in 2017. Why the first law?
For the balance of trade relations in the agricultural sector and a healthy and sustainable diet, this law, adopted in October 2018, aimed (in particular) to halt the race to low prices in order to improve farmers' income and better value agricultural production.
In the end, the assessment is quite meager. Admittedly, the problems are identified with distortion of competition, technical deadlocks, heavy administrative constraints, access to water, but the State does not give us remedies but palliative care. Meanwhile, production stops, farms disappear.
The malaise is deep and anger is growing. There is a strong risk of no longer being able to control the situation. We must stop the posturing of certain politicians and announcement effects that yield no results. Passing laws is good, but they still need to be applied', concludes
a skeptical Max Bauer.
Photo PRESSE AGENCE.