Emergency agricultural law: eight NGOs call for the censorship of a text deemed dangerous to health

Eight environmental organizations and the Confédération paysanne (Farmers' Confederation) are asking the Constitutional Council to strike down several provisions of the emergency agricultural law. They have submitted a written contribution to support the appeals already filed by Green, La France Insoumise, and Socialist members of parliament.

According to the signatories, the text adopted on July 21st violates the Charter for the Environment, which has constitutional status. They argue, in particular, that the law infringes upon the precautionary principle and everyone's right to live in a balanced and healthy environment.

Controversial uses of pesticides, water storage, and livestock farming

The associations are primarily targeting the reintroduction of acetamiprid and flupyradifurone, two controversial pesticides. They are also denouncing the objective of doubling agricultural water storage capacity by 2035, as well as the relaxation of certain rules applicable to livestock farming, which they believe could reduce environmental transparency.

The League for the Protection of Birds, Générations Futures, France Nature Environnement, and WWF France are among the organizations involved. The Constitutional Council's decision is now highly anticipated, as it will determine the extent to which the legislature can relax agricultural regulations in the name of economic urgency without violating the environmental protections enshrined in the Constitution. No date has yet been announced for the hearing of the appeal.