Vache folly

When we first heard the following last week, we thought it was a joke, but seeing it again today in the Wall Street Journal (subs. req'd) confirms that it's true:

French farmers have exploited the [EU Constitution] debate to gain special concessions from the government: Paris recently agreed to subsidize one-week summer vacations for livestock farmers, a majority of who were planning to vote against the treaty, according to recent polls.

It's not yet clear whether this promise is like a famous (in Ireland) desperation-induced pre-election giveaway in Dublin in 1982: one that gets taken away if the government doesn't get the result it wants.