Farmers in France have sympathy but say there will be no compromises

French agriculture leaders are sympathetic towards the post-brexit issues facing farmers in Britain, but there’s no sign of any softening of attitudes concerning future trade or border requirements.

“Our farmers sell a lot of French fruit, cheese and wine into the UK and would like to continue doing so after Brexit,” said Christiane Lambert, president of FNSEA, the French farmers’ union. “That doesn’t mean we believe it’s possible to carry on as if the Brexit vote hadn’t taken place.”

A high-profile farm sector figure on French radio and TV programmes, Ms Lambert pointed out that while Britain had voted to leave the EU, it appeared to many in France that the UK wants to stay inside the EU28 when it comes to trading matters.

“That just isn’t achievable,” she said, adding that the farmers she represents through FNSEA believe it’s vitally important to maintain strict control over future trade relations between the EU and Great Britain, not least to avoid other member states from thinking they can also leave the EU without anything changing.

“The truth is that the EU/UK relationship must change and will change and British farmers need to accept that,” said Ms Lambert.

She also ruled out the prospect of any “private” trade deals being done by France and the UK, despite all the very good farm business links existing between traders on both sides of the English Channel.

“We’re part of the EU and the eventual Brexit settlement will be done with the entire 27 remaining members,” she said. “There will be no one-off deals.”

Other farming, business and research leaders in France have the same stance. They include Jacques Poulet, animal division director of Coop de France, an umbrella body representing 2,600 coops, 60,000 farmers and a national turnover of £75bn. “Brexit is a catastrophe for all of us,” he said. “It’s very sad. You really shouldn’t have decided to leave.”

Similarly, Hervé Guyomard, research director at INRA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, said: “The post-brexit period is going to be really difficult with a real risk of problems developing between farmers in Brittany and in the UK, especially as producers become aware of distortions between our two industries.”