The National Assembly gave a final green light on Friday, October 30 to the temporary and controversial reintroduction of neonicotinoids - bee-killing insecticides - to “
save
” the beet industry, a bill denounced by the left and some LREMs.
This bill must be the subject of a final vote Wednesday in the Senate, worth final adoption.
The two chambers had reached an agreement in a joint committee on a compromise text.
He was supported in the Assembly by 103 votes to 45.
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The reintroduction of seeds coated with neonicotinoids should enable the French sugar beet industry to resist the proliferation of a green aphid, vector of the "
jaundice
"
disease
.
The Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie recognized that it was a “
difficult
”
text
, to defend French “
food sovereignty
” in the face of an “
exceptional situation
”.
According to him, there is today "
no alternative
".
The minister, supported by majority and right-wing MPs, also underlined the efforts of agricultural research, with the support of 7 million euros in public subsidies, to find new solutions.
This derogation, until 2023, is based on article 53 of the European regulation on phytosanitary products which allows derogations from the ban on certain products when there is a "
danger which cannot be controlled by other reasonable means.
".
Read also: Senate green light for the return of neonicotinoids
The Socialists criticized the government for "
not respecting
" Parliament by reversing the 2016 vote which banned this type of pesticide in 2018. "
There is a plan B for beets that does not use neonicotinoids
", a asserted the deputy PS Dominique Potier.
This text "
deals serious blows to the environment
", echoed the communist André Chassaigne.
The rebellious Mathilde Panot promised the government a "
report
" before the Court of Justice of the Republic for "
deliberate endangering the lives of others
" Thierry Benoit (UDI) for his part regretted the "
method
" and s 'is said to be "
scalded by the glyphosate dossier
".
Two years ago, the release of this controversial herbicide was not enshrined in law by the Assembly, while France has set itself the goal of ending most of the use of glyphosate in 2021, before a total ban in 2023 This temporary reintroduction of neonicotinoids divided the majority at the beginning of October, at first reading, with a record of disputes at LREM: 32 votes against and 36 abstentions.
175 deputies from the majority group had supported the bill.