Why it's important. Duplomb's agricultural law: are we moving towards an agreement between deputies and senators in the joint committee?

Seven MPs and seven senators are meeting behind closed doors this Monday as part of the joint committee (CMP) devoted to the Duplomb bill . Named after the LR senator from Haute-Loire who co-wrote it with Franck Menonville, UDI senator from Meuse, the bill aims to "remove constraints on the farming profession." A motion of rejection having been adopted in the Assembly on May 26, in order to circumvent "the wall" of 3,500 amendments tabled on the text, it is the version adopted at the end of January by the Senate which serves as the basis for the debate.

Presented as "vital" for the agricultural unions FNSEA and the Rural Coordination, supported by the government and the common base, the text is on the contrary described as "dangerous" and "Trumpian-inspired" by its opponents, left-wing parties and environmental defenders.

This bill "disregards the health and well-being of the population as well as the central role of wild species in agricultural production," denounced a group of scientists in an article published Friday in Le Monde . Demonstrations have been organized across the country against this text and the Confédération paysanne plans to mobilize this Monday in front of the Senate, where parliamentarians are meeting.

The most high-profile measure in the bill seeks to reintroduce, by way of derogation, acetamiprid, a pesticide from the neonicotinoid family, nicknamed "bee killer." Banned in France since 2020, it is authorized in the rest of the European Union until 2033. Its use is being demanded by hazelnut and beet producers, who say they have no alternative solution to effectively combat the insect pests. In the Economic Affairs Committee, MPs had limited its derogation reintroduction to three years.

In a letter sent Thursday to members of the joint committee, France Eau Publique, a network that brings together 123 local authorities and public water and sanitation operators, warned of the lasting impacts of neonicotinoids on drinking water quality. The League Against Cancer, for its part, called for the withdrawal of this article of the law, which "opens the way to deregulation of potentially carcinogenic products," increasing pesticide exposure for farmers, florists, and residents living near spraying areas.

The bill from the Senate also aims to facilitate the construction of water storage facilities by establishing a "presumption of major general interest" where water is lacking, in "a concerted territorial approach to the distribution of water resources among all users."

Article 3, also much criticized, plans to raise the threshold for a livestock building to be classified as a facility requiring authorization (ICPE). The text also intends to modify the role of ANSES in pesticide assessment. A "crop protection advisory board" would be created and would decide on the prioritization of marketing applications. Furthermore, ANSES would be required to provide the government with reasons for any intention to refuse, in order to allow manufacturers to respond.

Despite the criticism, the joint committee is expected to be conclusive. Appointed based on the weight of their groups in the two chambers, representatives from the right-wing and centrist parties outnumber those from the left. If a joint version is adopted, it will have to be voted on in the Senate and the National Assembly in early July. In the event of disagreement, the final decision will rest with the deputies.

Present before the Assembly during the debates at the end of May to exert pressure , the FNSEA warned: if it is not adopted, "we will return to the state of exasperation which presided over the launch of the major demonstrations of winter 2024."