Farmers block motorway near Paris in wave of nationwide protests

Farmers across France have been protesting by using tractors to create road blocks in a wave of protests across Europe. Major French motorways were blocked near Paris and Bayonne, close to the Spanish border. Farmers said anger was growing for several reasons. Many feel abandoned in the face of the climate crisis, with droughts and severe weather conditions, but there is also fury at what they see as impossibly low prices for their products in the food sector, the difficulty of red tape, complex environmental norms, and green policies – such as on water use – which they say are affecting profits. Further protests took place in Germany and Romania ahead of the European elections in June