Marine Le Pen endeavored, on Wednesday February 28, to dispel the unrest caused in the ranks of the National Rally (RN) by criticism from Jordan Bardella on the subject of floor prices for agricultural products.
“I carefully read the comments made by Jordan and this is exactly what we are proposing,” said the three-time presidential candidate, during a trip to the Agricultural Show in Paris.
“If you put in place floor prices at the French level, it is a poverty trap because, precisely, we will go to the European market to obtain our supplies,” declared Monday the president of the party and head of the list for the Europeans, on France Bleu, evoking the project outlined on Saturday by Emmanuel Macron, during an impromptu debate with farmers, at the Porte de Versailles show.
However, in 2022, presidential candidate Marine Le Pen proposed in her program to “allow state intervention in the development of indices used to set minimum prices” and, three months ago, the deputy RN Grégoire de Fournas had also tabled an amendment proposing that “no agricultural raw material from imports [can] be marketed at a price lower than the floor purchase price of agricultural raw materials set by the public conference of the sector or the power regulatory”.
“Less intelligent” MPs
Jordan Bardella's comments sowed some confusion among RN executives and the question was on the agenda for a meeting of far-right deputies on Tuesday morning, in the presence of Marine Le Pen, but without the president. party. One of the participants, who accompanied the latter the day before at the Agricultural Show, explained without completely convincing having "heard all day" that floor prices, "that is not the solution and that cannot not be an end in itself.”
“We weren’t careful enough,” euphemized a Lepénist deputy interviewed by Agence France-Presse after the meeting, calling for “removing” an “ambiguity.” “Jordan needs to explain himself,” said another, inviting the outgoing MEP to “be a little more careful.” “If there was a misunderstanding, then it was a mistake,” he sighed.
“There are some who are less intelligent than others. To not understand what Jordan Bardella said, [you] must not have listened. I listened perfectly to what he said and I understood perfectly,” continued Marine Le Pen. “If we put in place price floors by leaving free trade agreements, by lowering agricultural production, by increasing environmental standards which raise prices, then we create an advantage for imports and a general impoverishment of farmers,” she added.
Marine Le Pen also attacked the proposal of La France insoumise to establish floor prices which the RN deputies had nevertheless voted for. “We considered it necessary to send a signal to the government”, without “fundamentally agreeing on the method used” by LFI, she justified. “But, given the problem of farmers’ remuneration, we held a vote calling for help for farmers. »
