Dozens of farmers have been arrested after storming the Rungis food market on the outskirts of Paris, escalating protests over pay and working conditions. Police confirmed that 91 farmers are in custody following the incident at the site, which supplies food to 12 million people in the region.
The protesters entered the storage area of the market, known as 'the belly of Paris', and caused damage before being removed by security forces. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez warned that authorities 'cannot tolerate disturbances to public order'. Earlier, 18 people had been arrested for blocking traffic near the market.
The French government had warned that disruption at Rungis would cross a red line. In anticipation of the protest, police deployed armoured vehicles along the A6 motorway and set up checkpoints around access points to the market.
The protests are part of a wider wave of farmer demonstrations across Europe, with tens of thousands of farmers in Germany, Poland, Romania, Belgium and Italy also staging protests. French farmers are demanding better pay and less red tape, with convoys of tractors blocking key roads into Paris in what has been dubbed the 'siege of Paris'.
Arnaud Rousseau, head of the FNSEA agricultural union, acknowledged 'huge expectations' among farmers but said not all demands could be met immediately. The protests pose a crisis for Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who took office just three weeks ago. He pledged new support measures in the coming days, praising the agriculture sector as 'our force and our pride'.
