French MPs are due to vote on Monday evening on the emergency agriculture bill, whose final version was approved last Thursday by a joint committee (CMP). A piece of legislation whose adoption is far from a foregone conclusion.
Of the 78 articles contained in the bill, one in particular is splitting France’s political forces: the reintroduction, by way of derogation, of acetamiprid and flupyradifurone – two pesticides banned in France but authorised in the European Union – for certain struggling sectors.
Last year, the bill put forward by Senator Laurent Duplomb, which already envisaged the return of acetamiprid, ran into strong public opposition, leading to a widely supported petition. The provision was ultimately struck down by the Constitutional Council.
A divisive bill, even within the government
In an effort to rally his troops ahead of the vote, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a meeting at Matignon on Monday with the main representatives of the government coalition (Renaissance, MoDem, Horizons, LR), the centrist Liot group, as well as ministers Annie Genevard, Monique Barbut, Mathieu Lefèvre and Laurent Panifous.
