A personality like Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of the French Republic, incites a reaction in everyone, whether good or bad. Whatever one may think about the man or the way he rules the country, there is something that must be acknowledged about him: when Sarkozy has something to say, he says it clearly.

The president recently addressed French farmers, who are going through one of the most difficult and cruel crises they have ever encountered. He delivered a message about the importance of the agricultural industry to the country’s economy and the tight relationship between farmers and the soil as a cornerstone of the French national identity. He also uncovered a new help package from the state - some €1.65 billion (£1.49bn) to help farmers get through the crisis. This sum seems to be huge. In fact, the main decision is that the state will release €1bn of loans to farmers, with a very low rate of interest. This should help them engage immediately in investments for next season. For those farmers already heavily in debt, a special aid package of €200m will ease the pressure of the interest charges.

This package is a short-term decision and farmers will one day have to pay the money back. Some money will be earmarked for specific items: for example, refunding the newly established “carbon tax” by up to 75 per cent, and easing the tax on petrol and land with no construction.

The problem is that everyone still remembers what happened to the restaurant industry. VAT was reduced to help the sector during this difficult period - incidentally, a promise made by President Chirac for electoral reasons - in exchange for lower prices and hiring of more staff. That decision could end up costing the state some €1.4bn a year, and we are still waiting to see the results. Some analysts have calculated that only 6,000 people have been hired to date under the scheme - and each of them is costing every French citizen virtually hundreds of thousands of euros.

This outcome was predictable. What was not predictable was the analysis Sarkozy gave about the fresh produce industry in France. He said: “There are 30,000 fruit and vegetable producers in France. Only half of them are organised in producers’ associations. And for this half, there are 285 organisations. Is this reasonable? And all this to talk with just five retailers. We cannot accept this any more. I hope that all the aid for the industry will help regroup producers, so they have more clout with the distribution channels, and can create more clout if necessary.” One could hardly be clearer..