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France: A Region Rebels

November 19, 2013

Thousands of Bretons are protesting against the government in Paris. Brittany's farmers, in particular, feel their country has let them down. Their protests have now spread through the entire region.

https://p.dw.com/p/1AKda
A protester (R) speaks to other protesters near an 'Ecotax' control portal during a demonstration against jobcuts and against the government's controversial environmental tax on heavy goods vehicles in Jugon-les-Lacs, western France, on November 9, 2013. The ecotax, aimed at encouraging environmentally friendly commercial transport, imposes new levies on French and foreign vehicles transporting commercial goods weighing over 3.5 tonnes but its implementation has repeatedly been put off. AFP PHOTO / JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER (Photo credit should read JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty Images)
Image: Jean-Francois Monier/AFP/Getty Images

The town of Carhaix-Plouguer sparked the protest against a planned eco-tax, to be levied on heavy trucks carrying goods on public roads. After demonstrations spread throughout the country, the tax was put on hold. Then farmers from Carhaix-Plouguer began smashing eggs in public to protest low prices and new EU norms on hen houses. The Bretons blame the demise of farming and the economy as a whole on the government of President François Hollande.

Ein französischer Bretone, der zwischen seinen Kühen mit roter Mütze auf der Weide steht. Zu Tausenden begehren die Bretonen gegen die Regierung in Paris auf. Vor allem die Landwirte in der Bretagne fühlen sich im Stich gelassen. Ihr Protest hat mittlerweile die ganze Region erfasst. *** DW Eigendreh
Image: DW