
France adopts law upholding ban on controversial insecticide
READ MORE:
What is France's Loi Duplomb and why are people protesting about it?
Critics of the bill, adopted in July in a fractured lower house of parliament, say it was rushed through without proper debate.
The law was published in the government's official journal on Tuesday after the Constitutional Council, the country's highest court, struck down the contested provision about the reintroduction of acetamiprid.
The court said that the insecticides known as neonicotinoids posed "risks to human health" and were unconstitutional as they undermined the right to live in a balanced and healthy environment as guaranteed in the country's environmental charter.
Banned in France since 2018, acetamiprid is legal in the European Union and proponents say French farmers need it to help them compete with their European counterparts.
Advertisement
The main farmers' union has railed against the court ruling.
Supporters of the petition said their frustration with the legislation went beyond environmental concerns.
Commentators have said it may be a sign of exasperation with deadlock in a hung parliament and a desire to have a greater say in political matters.
After the ruling, Macron had said he intended to quickly enact the law and rejected further parliamentary debate.
The controversial legislation has been dubbed the Duplomb law, after its author, Laurent Duplomb, a senator for the right-wing Les Republicains party.
French Health Minister Yannick Neuder has called for a European reassessment of the impact of acetamiprid on human health.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Local France
3 hours ago
- Local France
8 big problems that France faces this autumn
September in France marks la rentrée - when the kids go back to school, adults go back to work and the parliament starts a new term. It's traditionally a time for new ideas, fresh initiatives and planned legislation - but a highly combustible political situation, not to mention international tensions, make this year especially difficult. Battle over the budget France still has a significant budget deficit to address. The country finally managed to pass its 2025 budget in February, after the first version brought down Michel Barnier's government at the end of December. This year, the same challenge remains. In July, French Prime Minister François Bayrou gave an overview of what a possible 2026 budget could entail, intending to cut spending by €40 billion. Advertisement Bayrou floated plans such as cutting two public holidays and freezing spending increases (including on pensions and health), except for debt servicing and the defence sector. However, Bayrou's proposed cuts have not been popular amongst opposition parties, and the budget could end up bringing down another government. Debates in parliament begin in late September/early October. READ MORE: OPINION: Bayrou's budget has infuriated everyone and may force France into fresh elections Strikes and protests French unions have opposed Bayrou's proposals for budget cuts, and there is a possibility of large-scale mobilisation in September. The country's third-largest union, Force Ouvrière, has issued a strike notice for three months in autumn in response to cost-cutting measures announced by the prime minister. A meeting of France's inter-syndical - the group representing all the country's major unions - is scheduled for September 1st, and it's possible that other unions could join FO's action. Meanwhile, a previously unknown online group has issued a call for a complete blockade of the country from September 10th, which appears to be rapidly gaining traction. It remains to be seen how disruptive the action could be. Agriculture law (Loi Duplomb) While the piece of agricultural legislation known as the Loi Duplomb has been signed into law , it is possible there will be pushback as its key provisions begin to be enacted. The law caused a great deal of controversy in France, with more than 1 million people signing a petition to scrap it, in large part due to plans to reintroduce the bee-killing pesticide acetamiprid. Ultimately, France's Constitutional Council, the country's highest court, struck down the contested pesticide provision. However, the final version of the law also includes plans to change the rules on water storage , a topic that has also become more controversial as more parts of France suffer from increasing temperatures and drought each summer. Water supplies have already started to become a flashpoint - there were violent clashes in the south-west town of Sainte-Soline where giant underground water storage basins were being built in 2023. Advertisement Start of EES The EU is due to bring in its new Entry & Exit System (EES) on October 12th, 2025, with a six-month phased introduction. EES will require passengers to give biometric details, including fingerprints and a facial scan, and an automated passport scanning to keep track of time spent in the EU for those covered by the 90-day rule. Although the system covers all of the EU's external borders, there are particular worries about the busy UK-France border. READ MORE: Travel to France: Your questions answered about EES And ETIAS Trump tariffs The EU seems to have struck a deal with Washington for a 15 percent tariff on EU goods entering the US market - but this is more of an outline agreement and negotiations continue on certain sectors. As such, it is unclear when the tariffs would actually come into force. Overall, France is not one of the worst-affected EU countries - Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium are expected to be the worst hit - but there are some areas and industries that would be hit especially hard. In 2024, French exports to the US were driven by aeronautics, beverages (wine and Cognac) , and pharmaceuticals. READ MORE: Why Normandy is the French region hardest hit by US tariffs Brexit cards As the first post-Brexit residency permits - known as the Article 50 TUE cartes de séjour or WARP cards - begin to reach their expiration dates at the end of 2025 and early 2026, the French government must soon announce instructions for card renewals. Advertisement Brits who were living in France prior to Brexit and have the five-year card should benefit from a simplified renewal process as outlined in the Withdrawal Agreement - but at present it not clear exactly how the card renewals will be done (eg online or in person, using a special website or the standard ANEF site). The Local has been in touch with the Interior Ministry to ask about procedures for renewals. READ MORE: Latest: What's the deal with renewing the post-Brexit carte de séjour Immigration law As for other residency-related questions - as part of the 2024 immigration law, the French parliament voted to bring in stricter language requirements for certain residency cards and French nationality, from January 2026. READ MORE: Your questions answered: New French language requirements for foreigners Those making their first application for a carte de séjour pluriannuelle (multi-year card, max duration of four years) will from January need to demonstrate a French level of at least A2 according to the DELF/ CERL international language scale. Those making their first application for a 10-year carte de résident (in most cases, available after five years of consecutive residency) will need to demonstrate at least B1 level in French - an increase from the previous requirement of A2. Those applying for French citizenship will need to demonstrate at least B2 level in French, instead of the previous requirement of B1. Citizenship applications from January 1st will also involve a written civics exam, with the details to be announced in the coming weeks. As such, préfectures have a lot of preparation to do this autumn, and many are dealing with significant backlogs. It is possible that the culmination of several new requirements could lead to more delays. READ MORE: New law: What's changing and what's staying the same for French citizenship? International situation This isn't a France specific problem of course, but the international situation remains tense. France has taken a lead when it comes to military aid to Ukraine, with France and the UK - as Europe's two major military powers - agreeing to a 'reassurance force' to be deployed in the country. The situation in Gaza shows no sign of improving and president Emmanuel Macron has pledged that France will formally recognise the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September. France, which has both Europe's largest Jewish population and its largest Muslim population, remains on high alert for the potential for the conflict to spark unrest or terrorists threats within Europe.

LeMonde
4 hours ago
- LeMonde
Macron admits France waged a repressive war in Cameroon during its decolonisation
France waged a "war" in Cameroon marked by "repressive violence" during and after the African country's decolonisation in the late 1950s, President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged, in a letter published on Tuesday, August 12. The letter, sent to his Cameroonian counterpart last month, is the latest example of France's efforts under Macron to come to terms with its often-bloody colonial history. The admission follows an official report, published by a historical commission in January, which said that France implemented mass forced displacement, pushed hundreds of thousands of Cameroonians into internment camps and supported brutal militias to quash the central African country's push for sovereignty. The historical commission examined France's role in the years both leading up to and after Cameroon gained independence from France on January 1, 1960. "The historians of the commission made it very clear that there was a war in Cameroon, during which the colonial authorities and the French army carried out repressive violence of several kinds (...) that continued after 1960," Macron said in the letter to Cameroonian President Paul Biya, published by the French presidency. "It is incumbent on me today to accept France's role and responsibility in these events," he said. A bilateral 'working group' Macron announced the creation of the commission during a 2022 trip to the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde. Composed of both French and Cameroonian historians, the 14-person committee looked into France's role in the country between 1945 and 1971, based on declassified archives, eyewitness accounts and field surveys. Macron said that France would facilitate access to its archives so that researchers could build on the commission's findings. He also suggested the creation of a bilateral "working group" to help monitor progress in ongoing research and education. 'Tens of thousands of lives' Most of Cameroon came under French rule in 1918 after the defeat of its previous colonial ruler, Germany, during World War I. Yet a brutal conflict unfolded when the country began pushing for its independence following World War II, a move France repressed violently, according to the report's findings. Between 1956 and 1961, France's fight against Cameroonian independence claimed "tens of thousands of lives" and left hundreds of thousands displaced, the historians said. For many in France, the war in Cameroon went unnoticed because it mainly involved troops from colonies in Africa and was overshadowed by the French fight in Algeria's 1954-1962 war of independence. Even after Cameroon gained independence in 1960, Paris remained deeply involved in its governance, working closely with the "authoritarian and autocratic" government of Ahmadou Ahidjo, who stayed in power until 1982. France's historical record Macron has taken tentative steps to come to terms with once-taboo aspects of France's historical record, though many argue he has not gone far enough. A 2021 report concluded France bore "overwhelming responsibilities" in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and a 2020 review examining France's actions during Algeria's war of independence called for a "truth commission" and other conciliatory actions. Macron has, however, ruled out any official apology for torture and other abuses carried out by French troops in Algeria.

LeMonde
5 hours ago
- LeMonde
Trump wields Alaska and Texas gas as global power play
By inviting Vladimir Putin to Alaska on August 15, Donald Trump is putting the territory the United States bought from tsarist Russia in 1867 back on the world's geopolitical map. The 82-kilometer-wide Bering Strait locks the passage from the Pacific to the Arctic, now increasingly free of ice, for the two nuclear powers. Trump is also putting Alaska back on the world energy map. Since taking office, Trump has urged companies to "Drill, baby, drill." His so-called tariff negotiations have pressured allies into buying American liquefied natural gas (LNG): $750 billion over three years from the European Union (EU), $100 billion from South Korea and an unspecified amount from Japan. Meanwhile, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam have expressed interest in US LNG but have not signed binding agreements. These promises and forced expressions of interest are one thing, but the reality on the ground is another. The European pledge, in particular, is completely unrealistic, as we'll get back to later. There are two possible routes to buy natural gas. One is the Gulf of Mexico, where LNG tankers currently depart with Texan shale gas bound for Europe. However, this option is not ideal for Asian buyers, who must sail south of the equator, cross the expensive Panama Canal and then traverse the Pacific.