France Enacts Emergency Farm Law to Allow Limited Re‑use of Two Previously Banned Pesticides

By Romain Gutkind with AFP

Published on 21 July 2026 – 20:39 GMT+2

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had promised farmers he would find solutions to their problems with their “means of production”.

Senators approved the bill by a margin of 214 to 111.

The emergency legislation, which struggled to gain approval, is creating divisions even within the governing majority.

The Minister for Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, opposed the measure and announced she would resign and submit her resignation to President Emmanuel Macron as soon as the Senate gave its approval.

The opposition left has signalled its intention to refer the matter to the Constitutional Council. Green MP Daniel Salmon condemned the measure as “a reckless and destructive headlong rush, with complacent measures that deny the scientific evidence”.

Centrist senator Franck Ménonville defended the law, describing it as a response to “the hypocrisy of producing less in France in order to import ever more products that do not comply with our standards”.

Under the law, the health agency Anses may, on the recommendation of the Minister of Agriculture, exceptionally and under strict conditions authorise the use of two pesticides: acetamiprid and flupyradifurone.

Acetamiprid, banned in France since 2018, remains authorised by the European Union until 2033 but only at progressively lower dosages.

Flupyradifurone (source in French), banned domestically since 31 December 2019, is classified as a new‑generation neonicotinoid. The EU permits its use until 2029.

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