Les agriculteurs bloquent la base Intermarché de Villers-le-Bouillet

L’atmosphère était moins joyeuse qu’en matinée ce vendredi soir à la base d’Intermarché de Villers-le-Bouillet, bloquée par les agriculteurs toute la journée. Vers 18h, un attroupement se forme en face d’un jeune agriculteur qui a suivi la première salve de négociations avec Comeos. “They don’t give a damn, it’s a big mess,” dit-il visiblement en colère. “We are not taken seriously by the representatives of the large supermarkets, who have not understood the urgency of the situation. We are at an impasse.” Il a même dit que si nothing comes out of the negotiations with Comeos, then the blockade could be maintained throughout the night or even the entire weekend.

“We’ll work on other ways to put pressure”

But this will not be the case as the farmers have finally been forced by a judge to leave. “We’re all furious and disheartened,” said Olivier Hoche around 8.30 pm. “In less than a day of blockade, we got a judgment and were forced out by bailiffs (Editor’s note: who had come to the site earlier in the day to make the usual findings) . They wasted no time. It was decided by the judge that we could no longer blockade the Intermarché base until February 28.”

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Even blocking the two roundabouts of Villers-le-Bouillet located nearby, the farmers will no longer be able to do so until the same date. Otherwise? A fine of over 2000 € per farmer will be requested from them. “We will now work on solutions and other ways to put pressure.” And there are!

Farmers already on site early in the morning

Earlier in the morning, the “booms” of the scarecrow cannons thundered at the Intermarché base in Villers; the yellow flags of the Federation of Young Farmers fluttered. This Friday – a day of negotiations in Brussels between farmers’ unions, representatives of large distribution and politicians – many farmers from the region again met at the distribution site. They came to block, in a relatively good atmosphere, the trucks supposed to deliver no less than 165 stores covered by the latter. But it will be nothing, until further notice: “If the 3:30 pm meeting with Comeo is successful, we will let the trucks go. We feel that they are under pressure. And that’s the goal,” explained Vincent Langenaken, a farmer in Bovenistier (Waremme), in the morning. “And we will see the outcome of this action if we harden our stance in the coming days.”

“Our wages are governed by industrialists”

The demands remain the same, focused on two main elements: first a revision of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) at the European level, whose increasingly stringent standards are pushing our farmers. There is also the issue of supermarkets buying raw materials produced by farmers at respectable prices. “Some large surfaces say that they only have a profit margin of 1 €. Have you seen the price of meat on the shelves? And the price at which they buy it from breeders?” asks this farmer who took over his uncle’s farm five years ago. “Personally, if I didn’t have my parks and gardens business on the side, I wouldn’t make it. All our wages are governed by industrialists, who make enormous profit margins. At the same time, Europe plays with our investment funds.”

“They also have the power to respond and act”

In the morning, an information fell among the farmers present at the Intermarché base: the latter had been informed that the farmers were going to proceed with this blockade and had loaded truck trailers in advance, elsewhere, in order to be able to partially carry out their deliveries. “They also have the power to respond and act,” says Olivier Hoche, an agricultural entrepreneur in Braives. The blocking of these famous trucks with tractors is then envisaged, but it is still necessary to know where to find them.

And he explains, regarding his situation: “My family’s farm has already been crushed by industrialists. It’s something that hurts me because we are attached to our lands,” he confides. “Why do you think I became an agricultural entrepreneur? Precisely because I wanted to stay in the sector. Today, there are only 30 hectares of land left in my family, which I intend to take over in the next five years.”