Protest politics and violence in the French countryside in the 1990s: an expression of Euroscepticism?

Abstract

Protest politics in the French countryside centred on broad criticism of the authority and policies of the EU. The activities of Coordination rurale on the right of French politics in 1992, and Confédération paysanne on the left since the 1980s, reflected rising rural discontent. Syndicats agricoles drew on the anger of farmers who saw agricultural politics focus on decisions by the EU and the French government to allow market priorities to transform the countryside. The often violent reaction to EU-negotiated changes imposed on French agriculture challenged legitimate authority: a sign of rising Euroscepticism in rural areas in the 1990s. The unions did not persuade politicians to accept alternative forms of agriculture but their actions challenged the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), further integration and enlargement of the EU.