France Approves Controlled Reintroduction of Two Insecticides for Several Agricultural Sectors

The vast majority of the agricultural emergency law was validated on Friday by the Constitutional Council, including the controversial sections on the exceptional reintroduction of banned pesticides, deemed sufficiently regulated by the Wise, and on water management.

In its decision, the Constitutional Council believes that the exemptions concerning the temporary reintroduction of banned pesticides - acetamiprid for the hazelnut sector and flupyradifurone for apples, cherries, and sugar beets - fall under "the general interest".

However, it accompanies its validation with two reservations regarding the geographical area where the exemption is granted and the time allowed for the health authority to rule.

This final step before promulgation for a text intended to address the agricultural anger of the winter comes at a time when French agriculture is facing unprecedented drought, with dramatic consequences for many productions, both plant and animal.

Part of the agricultural world - led by FNSEA, Young Farmers (JA), and Rural Coordination - is calling for easier access to pesticides and water, eagerly awaiting the implementation of measures such as the goal of doubling water storage for the agricultural sector, validated by the Wise.

The left, supported by NGOs and the Peasant Confederation, an agricultural union advocating for a "diversion" of agriculture towards agro-ecology, had referred the matter to the Constitutional Council after the law was adopted in Parliament at the end of July, contesting measures that it deemed contrary to the Charter of the Environment.

"General Interest"

On the pesticide aspect, the Constitutional Council reiterates in its decision that acetamiprid and flupyradifurone, a neonicotinoid and a related pesticide, "have impacts on biodiversity, particularly for pollinating insects and birds, as well as consequences for water and soil quality and pose risks to human health".

But "the legislator intended to allow certain agricultural sectors to face the serious dangers threatening their crops, in order to preserve their production capacities and protect them from competitive distortions at the European level. In doing so, it pursued a motive of general interest," it continues.

If they had censored last summer the reintroduction of acetamiprid under the highly controversial law known as Duplomb, they now judge that the exemptions are sufficiently regulated: the number of affected sectors is limited as is the duration of the exemption, the mode of use (coated seeds or spraying) is taken into account, and only the health authority (Anses) can decide if the conditions are met for a temporary exemption.

However, the Council issued two reservations. First, Anses must be able to "restrict the geographical scope of the exemptions".

Finally, the two-month period granted to Anses "may be insufficient to ensure the verification of all the conditions to which the exemption is subject," the Wise believe, a concern shared by the government and Anses itself. Conclusion: "the absence of a decision within the two-month period amounts to a refusal of the exemption".

Broad Validation

On water, all measures aimed at facilitating the construction of storage facilities for agriculture and doubling stored volumes by 2035 have been validated.

Only one reservation was made so that a storage facility cannot be considered a wetland. And the article aimed at facilitating the dredging of storage facilities was censored as it was unrelated to the original text.

On livestock, the Wise approved the article allowing the government to legislate by ordinance to completely reform the environmental authorization regime for buildings. However, it censored the provision that aimed to exclude non-riparian landowners from public information procedures and appeals against projects, contrary to the Charter of the Environment according to it.

Another substantive censorship: the article that stipulated that owners of land adjacent to agricultural areas treated with pesticides are responsible for creating a buffer zone for the protection of neighbors. These provisions "unduly infringe on property rights in relation to the objectives pursued".

Praised by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard hailed on X a "victory" for this text that she has championed, promising implementation "as soon as possible", but indicated a desire to continue work on the dredging of storage facilities and "agricultural neighborly servitude".