Agriculture: Duplomb Law on the verge of final adoption, a call for a rally in front of the Assembly

Initiated by Senators Laurent Duplomb (LR) and Franck Menonville (UDI, centre), this bill is presented as one of the responses to the anger of farmers in the winter of 2024, and as a way of "lifting the constraints" on the exercise of their profession.

The bill is notably demanded and welcomed by the leading agricultural union, the FNSEA, and its allies, the Young Farmers' Union. Conversely, the Confédération paysanne, the third-largest agricultural union, denounces it as a "deadly law in the service of free trade" and calls for a rally in front of the National Assembly at 12:30 p.m.

Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard (LR) praised a "balanced" and "crucial" law, while her colleague Agnès Pannier-Runacher (Ecological Transition) regretted having "lost" on the most discussed measure: the reintroduction, by way of derogation and under conditions, of acetamiprid, a pesticide from the neonicotinoid family.

Banned in France but authorized elsewhere in Europe until 2033, its effects on humans are a source of concern, even if the risks remain uncertain due to a lack of large-scale studies. This product is particularly in demand by beet and hazelnut producers, who believe they have no alternative to combat pests and are subject to unfair competition. Conversely, beekeepers warn of "a bee killer."

In the version resulting from a compromise between MPs and senators in the Joint Committee (JCC), the text provides for reintroduction without a deadline. However, there is a clause for review by the supervisory board, three years later, and then annually, to verify that the authorization criteria are still met. "This will affect a maximum of 1.7% of agricultural land, and even then, if all the requesting sectors have the exemption," estimates the rapporteur of the text in the Assembly, Julien Dive (LR).

"This amounts to authorization ad vitam aeternam. The supervisory board will be a Théodule committee, opaque, without any impact," protested the LFI president of the Economic Affairs Committee, Aurélie Trouvé, whose group will defend a motion of preliminary rejection of the text, late in the afternoon after questions to the government. The measure will have structured the sometimes heated debates between deputies. Skirmishes that only took place in committee since, at the height of the tensions, the supporters of the text had themselves rejected it at first reading, to circumvent a wall of rebellious and environmentalist amendments and force passage in the joint committee.

The left and the environmentalists will have a hard time preventing the final adoption on Tuesday, barring any turnout. A large part of the government coalition (Renaissance, MoDem, Horizons, LR) and the RN-UDR alliance are expected to support it, according to sources within the groups. "We are quite satisfied," commented MP Hélène Laporte (RN), while nevertheless calling on the government to issue swift implementing decrees for farmers.

And while some centrist parliamentarians are expected to vote against or abstain, their groups are expected to rely on gains made in the joint committee over the Senate version to call for a vote in favor. This includes the withdrawal of a controversial measure questioning the independence of the health agency ANSES.

"Poison Law"

A "poison law" for environmentalists, and an "obstacle to the agroecological transition" for socialist Dominique Potier, the text no longer contains "one-upmanship or renunciation," believes Marc Fesneau, leader of the MoDem deputies.

The bill also includes measures to facilitate water storage for irrigation, in a context of water scarcity linked to climate change. But these measures are heavily criticized on the left, as are those aimed at facilitating the expansion or creation of intensive livestock buildings.