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| Coordination Rurale | |
|---|---|
| Name | Coordination Rurale |
| Native name | Coordination Rurale |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founders | Pierre Poujade? |
| Location | France |
| Focus | Agricultural advocacy, agrarianism |
Coordination Rurale is a French agricultural union and advocacy group founded in 1990 that represents small-scale farmers, livestock breeders, and agricultural producers. It is active in rural policy debates, collective bargaining, demonstrations, and legal actions related to agricultural regulation, trade, and subsidies. The organisation interacts with a range of institutions and movements, engaging with national and regional bodies, and has been involved in high-profile protests and policy campaigns.
Coordination Rurale emerged during a period of restructuring in French agriculture amid debates over the Common Agricultural Policy, World Trade Organization negotiations, and the aftermath of the 1980s farm crisis in France. Its formation followed earlier rural movements such as Confédération Paysanne, FNSEA, and regional syndicats that reacted to crises like the mad cow disease crisis and controversies over genetically modified organisms and pesticide regulation. In the 1990s and 2000s Coordination Rurale positioned itself alongside organisations including La Via Campesina, European Farmers', and national platforms during disputes over sugar reform, milk quotas, and dairy price conflicts. Throughout the 2010s it mobilised during episodes tied to European Union policy shifts, TTIP negotiations, and the abolition of EU milk quotas.
The association is structured as a federation of regional sections and professional commissions, interacting with public bodies such as the Ministry of Agriculture (France), regional councils like Conseil régional, and agencies including the Direction générale de l'alimentation and Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des aliments. Leadership typically comprises elected delegates from departments (départements) and régions, who coordinate actions with unions such as Jeunes Agriculteurs and cooperative networks like FNSEA affiliates at times of negotiated accords. Coordination Rurale maintains legal teams for litigation before administrative tribunals such as the Conseil d'État and engages with European institutions like the European Commission via lobbying and participation in advisory committees.
The organisation advocates policies that favour price supports, protectionist trade measures, and regulatory recognition of family farms and small producers, aligning at times with positions of parliamentary deputies from parties such as Rassemblement National, Les Républicains, and rural members of La République En Marche! when agricultural interests are at stake. It opposes certain liberalising measures promoted by the European Commission and trade agreements involving the World Trade Organization or bilateral accords. Coordination Rurale has taken strong stances on sanitary measures involving Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, avian influenza, and African swine fever, and on technological controversies involving GM crops, advocating for national opt-outs and producer compensation mechanisms endorsed by groups like Solidarité Paysans.
Major actions have included road blockades on national routes associated with demonstrations targeting institutions such as the Place Beauvau and Place Vendôme in Paris, coordinated strikes at agro-industrial sites linked to companies like Lactalis and Danone, and mass protests during hearings at the Assemblée nationale and meetings of the European Parliament. The group has organised national days of action in concert with protests against price dumping tied to import flows from countries involved in agreements with the European Free Trade Association or Mercosur, and has campaigned in media against supermarket buying practices involving chains such as Carrefour and Leclerc.
Membership primarily comprises smallholders, mixed crop-and-livestock farms, and family-run exploitations concentrated in regions such as Brittany, Normandy, Occitanie, and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Support networks extend to rural mayors affiliated with groups like Association des Maires de France, cooperative managers from entities like Coop de France, and professional federations including the Chambre d'agriculture system. Coordination Rurale mobilises alongside activist organisations including Confédération Paysanne and international peasant movements such as Via Campesina on issues of common interest, while at times diverging from larger unions like FNSEA over tactics.
The organisation has faced criticism from political actors including representatives of European Commission delegations, consumer associations, and environmental NGOs such as France Nature Environnement for resisting regulatory reforms on pesticides promoted after debates following the Glyphosate controversy and for confrontational tactics during protests near infrastructures like Aéroports de Paris. Critics have accused Coordination Rurale of aligning with right-wing parliamentary actors such as figures from Rassemblement National and of deploying populist rhetoric similar to movements linked with Poujadism. Legal disputes have arisen in administrative courts and media disputes involving outlets like Le Monde, Libération, and regional presses.
Coordination Rurale has influenced policy debates on pricing mechanisms, emergency aid schemes such as those debated during the COVID-19 pandemic in France, and measures relating to sanitary crises managed by agencies like the Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail. Its campaigns have contributed to legislative attention in the Assemblée nationale, adjustments in subsidy distribution under the Common Agricultural Policy, and negotiated outcomes with retail chains affecting supply contracts. The organisation's persistent mobilisation has reshaped discourse around agrarian identity in regions like Normandie and Bretagne, affecting the strategies of national unions such as FNSEA and political representation of rural constituencies.
Category:Agricultural organizations based in France