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France Agriculture and Fishing Overview
France Facts
France is especially known for its French
cuisine, its strong-tasting cheeses, wines and baguettes, all of
which are enjoyed in France with every meal.
Capital:
Paris
Official language: French
Currency: Euro
Passport
and visa: A Finnish citizen needs a passport or
identity card as a travel document.
Time difference to
Finland: -1
Agriculture and fishing
One third of France's land is used for
agriculture, but agricultural land is gradually
declining. At the same time, production is growing
through higher efficiency, especially in large-scale
agriculture. France is one of the EU's leading grain
producers and is one of the world's largest producers of
wheat.
- CountryAAH:
Comprehensive import regulations of France. Covers import prohibitions and special documentation requirements for a list of prohibited items.
In addition to wheat, barley, corn and sugar beets
are important agricultural products. France is also one
of the world's largest wine producers. Livestock farming
is also an important source of income in agriculture. In
essence, it is about cattle. In parts of Brittany there
is a large-scale and profitable pig breeding.
The proportion of the working population working in
agriculture has declined sharply, from 25 percent in
1954 to about 2.8 percent in 2014.
French farmers are a strong lobbying group that
gladly demonstrates dissatisfaction with manure tractors
loads. Few French politicians dare to oppose them.
France is usually the EU country that receives the
greatest support for agriculture. France slows down
attempts to abolish EU agricultural subsidies and cut
food tariffs on imports. For France defense and foreign
policy, please check
relationshipsplus.

France is a forest-rich country. More than a quarter
of the country's area is covered by forest. The forest
industry is relatively significant, but domestic
production is far from the country's needs. Wood and
pulp are imported in large quantities.
Fishing is an important industry. The French fishing
fleet is one of the largest in the EU countries. But
international competition is fierce and fishing requires
large investments. In addition, the EU has been forced
to reduce the allowable catches to rescue endangered
fish stocks. The catches are made mainly in the North
Sea and the Atlantic. A large part of the fishing income
comes from oyster farms off the coast. Despite the large
national fisheries and important fish farms, imports are
extensive.
FACTS - AGRICULTURE
Agriculture's share of GDP
1.6 percent (2018)
Percentage of land used for agriculture
52.4 percent (2016)
2015
December
IMF chief Christine Lagarde risks prosecution
The charge pertains to a payment in 2007 when she, as Finance Minister, would
resolve a dispute between businessman Bernard Tapie and state-owned bank Credit
Lyonnais. Lagarde decided that the dispute should be resolved through a private
arbitration procedure. The decision was that Tapie would be replaced by the
state with EUR 400 million. Lagarde did not appeal the decision, which caused a
storm of protest. In 2011, a prosecutor recommended that an investigation be
conducted into Lagarde's actions. There are suspicions that Tapie received
compensation for giving his support to Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential
election.
The national front is advancing in regional elections
December 6
The National Front gets 28 percent of the vote in the first round and its
candidates advance to a second round of elections in 13 regions. Ahead of the
second round, the Socialist Party chooses to withdraw its two candidates in two
regions and instead call on its voters to support Sarkozy's Republicans. This
applies to the Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie regions, where Marine Le Pen stands
and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, where Marine's niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen is
the UN candidate. The strategy manages to hinder the advance of the National
Front. The second round of regional elections ends with UN candidates not
winning in any of the 13 regions, despite the leadership in the first round.
Republicans take home most regions and receive 40 percent of the vote, while the
Socialist Party comes second with 29 percent. The UN receives 27 percent of the
vote.
Criticism against treatment of refugees in Calais
The government is criticized by human rights organizations for blocking
migrants in an attempt to evacuate the infamous "jungle" refugee camps in
Calais, where thousands (about 4,500) of migrants are waiting to try to make
their way to the UK. Conditions are substandard in the camps with insufficient
sanitary facilities. Most live in tents that are not adapted for winter.
According to reports, migrants from the camps are being transported to other
parts of the country, according to official spokesmen, pending deportation. But
according to human rights reports, only a couple of percent had left the
country, while the others remained in custody.
November
Attacks against suspected terrorists
Police strike a few days after the terrorist attack against an apartment in
the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, where a Belgian man believed to be the brain
behind the terrorist attack is suspected to be staying. A woman bursts to death
while a person is shot to death by police. Another at least one person is killed
in connection with the police intervention. It turns out to be the man who was
wanted for planning the terrorist attacks.
The appeal to the EU for help
The French government asks the rest of the EU countries for assistance in the
fight against IS and refers to a solidarity clause in the EU's Lisbon Treaty.
This is the first time this military aid clause has been used in the event that
a Member State has been subjected to an armed attack. All EU countries answer
yes to France's request.
An aircraft carrier wages the war against IS
Government teams have announced that an aircraft carrier will be sent to the
Persian Gulf to assist in the airstrikes against IS in Syria and Iraq.
New bomb attacks against IS
November 15
Two days after the terrorist attack, French fighter aircraft carry out
extensive bombings of Raqqa in Syria, where IS has its main base in the country.
Terrorist act in Paris
November 13
France faces an emergency permit and three days of country grief after 130
people were killed in a series of terrorist attacks in Paris. 352 people are
injured, of which a hundred are serious. The terrorist attacks are the worst in
France in peacetime, and President Holland calls the attacks "an act of war"
organized by the Islamic State(IS). The attacks that occur during the latter
part of the evening are carried out by a number of armed men and suicide
bombers. Several restaurants and bars in central Paris, where close to 40 guests
are indiscriminately shot down. Most casualties are required when armed men
storm into a crowded concert venue, Bataclan, and begin to mow down the crowd
with kalashnikovs. Ninety people lose their lives before the premises are
stormed by security forces. At the concert hall attack, the attackers are heard
shouting slogans in Arabic and one of them is said to have shouted that the
reason for the attack is France's intervention in the war against the Islamic
State in Syria. Three of the perpetrators die when they blow themselves to
death. Even a football match between France and Germany, as President Hollande
proves, is exposed when three suicide bombers blow themselves up in the air at
some eateries adjacent to the football stadium. The following day, IS made a
statement in which the movement claimed to be responsible for the attacks and
that these were a revenge for France's bombing of IS targets in Syria and Iraq.
Later it turns out that a 29-year-old Frenchman with roots in Algeria is one of
the suicide bombers. He is previously known by police for committing several
minor crimes and has returned to France after a time in Syria where he is said
to have been radicalized. Two French brothers, who were based in Brussels,
Belgium, are also reported to have been involved in the attacks. One of them
blew himself up outside one of the restaurants where the terrorist act was
carried out, while the other is still believed to be free. Another two
perpetrators have entered the EU via Greece with the help of fake Syrian
passports and claimed to be refugees. A third suicide bomber is later identified
as a resident of Strasbourg. He has been in Syria for a long time.
September
Bomb attacks against IS
At the end of the month, France for the first time launches bomb attacks with
fighter aircraft against Islamic State bases in Syria.
August
New terrorist act averted
Four men are rewarded with the Legion of Honor by President Hollande after
they prevented a terrorist attack. A heavily armed Moroccan was overpowered by
the three American tourists, all trained military, and a British businessman
when he attacked passengers on a train between Amsterdam and Paris.
Terrorist acts averted
A Paris resident has been arrested by police after being under guard for a
long time. It is discovered that he planned a terror attack against a concert
venue in Paris. His plan was to shoot at the crowd with a handgun. The man had
returned after being trained by IS in Syria.
Jean-Marie Le Pen is excluded from the National Front
The party decides on the exclusion following a temporary decision by Marine
Le Pen. (see May 2015)
Agreement with Russia on arms dealings
An agreement is finally reached with Russia on the canceled sale of two
French Mistral ships (see August 2014). France will compensate Russia for all
expenses incurred by the country in connection with the transaction, including
training of marines, adaptation of the port of Vladivostok etc.
July
Refugee chaos in Calais
The situation in the port city of Calais is attracting international
attention after hundreds of migrants tried to storm off the tunnel under the
English Channel in an attempt to cross to Britain. French police are sent to
Calais to stop the intrusion attempts. Many migrants are waiting in camps
(called the jungle) in Calais to get to the UK. Nearly twenty people have died
as they tried to get through the train tunnel.
Terrorist acts are averted
Three people are arrested on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack on a
military facility in Port-Vendres. The plan should have been to kill as many
soldiers as possible on the base and then behead the commander at the facility.
One of the suspects was reported to have had contacts with IS in Syria.
Farmers protest
French farmers block over a week off a series of roads leading to and from
Germany and Spain. This is in protest against what farmers see as unfair
competition from cheaper imported agricultural products. With their tractors,
farmers block trucks with imported goods at several border crossings. The
protests create widespread traffic chaos.
June
New terrorist act
An investigation into terrorist offenses begins when a man was found
decapitated at a gas plant near Lyon and a car drove into the factory in an
attempt to cause an explosion. The incident is likened to the Islamic State's
methods of terrorism and the state is put in the highest alert. A man who was
employed by the murder victim is arrested and confessed to the act.
American espionage against the president
The Internet site Wikileaks states that the US intelligence organization NSA
has spied on the President of France during the period 2006-2012.
New vote of confidence in the National Assembly
Prime Minister Valls is again pushing for an economic reform package in the
National Assembly by using a constitutional clause that means that no vote is
needed. The reason is, as in February (see February 2015), that he lacks the
support of the Socialist Party's left wing. The act leads to the opposition
demanding a vote on the confidence of the government in Parliament. 198 members
vote yes to dismiss the government, but at least 289 votes are required for this
to happen.
May
UMP renames
Nicolas Sarkozy's party of the UMP is renaming the Republicans
(les republicains).
New terrorist layer
The National Assembly adopts a new bill that gives intelligence organizations
expanded powers to collect telecommunications and data communications in
connection with suspected cases of terrorist activity. Among other things, it
becomes possible to collect so-called metadata.
Jean-Marie Le Pen is excluded from the National Front
Party leader Marine Le Pen temporarily withdraws his membership in the party
(see April).
April
Woman killed in terrorist act
A 33-year-old Frenchman is killed in Villejuif, a suburb of Paris, by an
Algerian national. The man is said to have planned to strike at two church
congregations in the town and had the car full of automatic rifles. Later,
cousins were arrested for the man.
Jean-Marie Le Pen does not run for regional elections
The founder of the National Front does not intend to run for election in the
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of south-eastern France in favor of
25-year-old granddaughter Marion Marechal-Le Pen, whom he wants to put in place
as his first name. Jean-Marie Le Pen retires following a dispute with the
daughter and leader of the National Front, Marine Le Pen. She raised her father
in March, announcing that she would not support him in the regional elections
after he again said that the Nazi gas chambers were just "a detail of history".
Since taking office as party leader in 2011, Marine Le Pen has had the goal of
washing away the National Front's stamp as racist and anti-Semitic, and she has
high ambitions for the 2017 presidential election.
Tax relief for businesses
The government introduces tax relief for companies in order to accelerate
investment. Companies are given the opportunity to deduct the cost of industrial
investment from taxed profits over a five-year period.
March
Setback for the Socialist Party in local elections
March 22
In the elections to the country's about 100 ministries, the party gets about
25 percent of the vote and falls far behind the winner UMP (in alliance with the
UDI) under its newly elected leader Nicolas Sarkozy. The UMP takes control of 67
ministries - which is 27 more than before. The Socialist Party backs 34
departments. The national front, despite making a good choice with 22 percent of
the vote, does not get control of any department.
Proposed measures against terrorism
The government presents a new bill that will make it possible to collect
telecommunications and internet data from persons suspected of having links to
terrorist activities. The proposal faces harsh criticism from human rights
organizations who believe it violates private integrity, but it has support from
the major parties. The National Assembly will vote on the proposal in May.
Comedies convicted of anti-Semitism
The comedian Dieudonne, known for his controversial speeches that were
sentenced to be anti-Semitic and led to high fines, is again convicted of
anti-Semitic statements. This time he will pay 22,500 euros.
February
Attacks against Jewish Assembly
A 30-year-old Frenchman injures three soldiers guarding a Jewish assembly
hall in Nice.
Budgetary requirements from the EU
France will have a deadline for 2017 to reduce its budget deficit to the
level set by euro cooperation: a maximum of 3 percent of GDP. By April, the
French government must submit a credible plan to the EU on how it intends to
achieve the goal. The European Commission calls for the budget deficit to be
reduced to 4.0 percent in 2015, to 3.4 percent in 2016 and 2.8 percent in 2017.
The French government has already promised a gradual reduction at roughly the
same rate, but the European Commission does not say have got a plan for how this
would happen.
The government wins a vote in confidence
Opposition parties are demanding a vote in the National Assembly after Prime
Minister Valls used a special constitutional clause to push through a
controversial change in labor market legislation in the National Assembly (see
Current Policy).
January
Mass demonstration in Paris
The attacks lead to an extensive debate on freedom of expression and press
and the fight against terrorists in France. More than 1.5 million people,
including 40 heads of state and government from the outside world, take part in
a street march in Paris to mark community and protest against terrorist acts.
Attacks on Charlie Hebdo
7 th of January
Three black-clad perpetrators break into the newspaper editorial and shoot
twelve people to death and injure seven. Four of the dead are cartoonists who
published a caricature of Prophet Muhammad in 2011. The perpetrators, during the
cold-blooded assassination, must have shouted that they have restored Prophet
Muhammad. After the deed, French police launch a comprehensive detention order
to seize the perpetrators, now identified as two brothers, Said and Cherif
Kouachi, who were formerly known by police and had a background in militant
Islamist movements. The next day, a police officer is shot dead and a man injured
in southern Paris. Later it turns out that the perpetrator, Amedy Coulibaly, has
a connection with the Kouachi brothers. These are killed by police when they
suddenly go into attack after entrenching themselves in an industrial premises
outside Paris. Amedy Coulibaly was also shot dead when police storm a Jewish
grocery store in Paris where Coulibaly took several hostages and killed four
people while demanding that the Kouachi brothers be released.
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