The Duplomb law is about to be adopted by the Assembly this Tuesday, without extinguishing the controversy over the return of a pesticide.

By The New Obs with AFP

Published on July 8, 2025 at 10:30 a.m.

Reading time: 2 min.

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The Duplomb-Menonville agricultural law, which has been the subject of much discussion in recent weeks due to its measure for the derogation of the reintroduction of a neonicotinoid pesticide , is on the verge of final adoption in Parliament this Tuesday, July 8, with a final vote by the Assembly.

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

Reintroduction without delay

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 commented-upon measure: the reintroduction, by way of derogation and under conditions, of acetamiprid, a pesticide from the neonicotinoid family.

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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. On the other hand, beekeepers warn of "a bee killer" .

In the version resulting from a compromise between deputies and senators in the joint committee (CMP), the text provides for reintroduction without establishing a deadline. However, it does include 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 sectors requesting the exemption had the exemption," estimates the rapporteur of the text in the Assembly, Julien Dive (LR).

"It amounts to an authorization ad vitam aeternam. The supervisory board will be a Théodule committee, opaque, without any impact," protests the LFI president of the Economic Affairs Committee, Aurélie Trouvé, whose group will defend a motion of preliminary rejection of the text, at the end of the afternoon after questions to the government.

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The measure structured the sometimes heated debates between MPs. These skirmishes only took place in committee, since at the height of the tensions, the bill's supporters had themselves rejected it at first reading, in order to circumvent a wall of rebellious and environmentalist amendments and force its passage through the joint committee.

The left and the environmentalists will have a hard time preventing the final adoption on Tuesday, barring a turnout mishap. 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), asking the government for rapid 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" for environmentalists, "obstacle to the agroecological transition" for the socialist Dominique Potier, the text no longer contains either "one-upmanship or renunciation" , believes on the contrary Marc Fesneau, leader of the MoDem deputies.

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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 providing for facilitating the expansion or creation of intensive livestock buildings. The Greenpeace association called in a press release to vote against "this text which is toxic for public health and the environment."

Anticipating a potential definitive adoption, rebels, environmentalists and socialists are considering appeals to the Constitutional Council, some believing that the law contravenes the principles of precaution and non-environmental regression.

Le Nouvel Observateur

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