France’s Constitutional Council Overturns Controversial “Duplomb” Law Allowing Restricted Use of Banned Pesticide

Kokcha News Agency – France’s Constitutional Council has struck down a provision in the contentious “Duplomb” law that allowed the limited use of a pesticide banned since 2015. The decision came after left-wing lawmakers and environmental groups argued that the law violated the right to a balanced and healthy environment.

The “Duplomb” law, named after Senator Laurent Duplomb who introduced it, had sparked widespread criticism from environmentalists and opposition groups. The law, passed in July 2024 with 316 votes in favor and 223 against, aimed to lift certain agricultural restrictions on pesticides, including the use of “Acetamiprid,” a pesticide banned in France but permitted in some other European countries.

Critics of the law, who gathered nearly 2 million signatures in a petition, argued that it represented a “scientific, environmental, and health deviation.” They claimed that the law failed to address key issues such as fair wages in the agricultural sector and unfair competition. The government, however, defended the law as necessary for France’s “food sovereignty,” pointing out that the pesticide is used in other European countries.

The law’s passage had already been met with significant backlash, including widespread protests by farmers who, in early 2024, surrounded Paris with tractors to oppose the government’s agricultural policies and a planned free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). The government had pledged to take steps to improve the agricultural sector following negotiations with farmers’ unions.