Agriculture: Assembly passes bill to address peasant anger

On Tuesday, the National Assembly begins substantive consideration in committee of the Agriculture Orientation Bill, an executive response to peasant anger that should calm future generations of farmers but whose provisions worry leftists and environmentalists.

“Given that we have a goal of finding 200,000 farm managers within 10 to 15 years, we need to attract people from outside the agricultural world,” Agriculture Minister Mark Fesno stressed to reporters on Tuesday.

Rewritten under pressure from demonstrations, the text combines measures to train, transfer farms or even “accelerate legal proceedings” in the event of challenges to water storage projects or the construction of livestock buildings, despite warnings from the State Council about this. “constitutional risks”.

More than 3,000 amendments made

The debate is expected to last until Saturday or Sunday. More than 3,000 amendments were introduced, nearly half of them by Republicans. However, a third of the proposals, especially on crop protection products or taxation, were considered unacceptable because they were too far from the articles or created a financial burden for the state.

The text should arrive in the half-cycle on May 14 for a ceremonial vote on the 28th. “In its original version, it is already very useful for agriculture,” the minister said, saying he was open to discussing tax issues during the meeting. next budget in the fall. The text of the law on phytosanitary products should also be submitted by the summer.

With Marc Fenot present, MPs will start with the biggest clause: the clause that recognizes “agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture” as “of great general interest”. Simple spell article? Not only that, says the minister’s office, which hopes it will “fuel the thinking of the administrative judge” to resolve the dispute over the agricultural project when it is balanced with the environmental imperative.

Among the various priorities, “it is the jurisprudence” that will decide

“The hierarchy of standards will not be changed: environmental protection has a constitutional value, while even mainthe general agricultural interest will only have legislative significance,” says Didier Truchet, professor emeritus at the Paris Panthéon-Assas, in an analysis for Le Club des juristes.

VIDEO. ‘Safe, Simplify’ defends Mark Feno on farm bill

“If you want to make photovoltaic panels, but it undermines food sovereignty, it’s still a good idea to ask the question,” says a government source, who said “the decision will be made by the jurisprudence.” “Either we question the Constitution and the Environmental Charter, or we ridicule the peasant world,” criticizes the socialist Dominique Potier, for whom this text “accomplishes the feat of not addressing a single important or marginal issue.”

According to Antoine Villedier (RN), this “in no way meets the expectations of farmers.” These measures “do not respond to the challenges of the crisis at all,” said Judge David Topiak (Liot).

“He does everything except respond to the challenge of generational renewal,” Aurélie Trouvé (LFI) also condemns. In addition to speeding up legal proceedings, he opposes the article providing for the conditions for investing land capital in agricultural land. “It aims to open up land grabs to finance,” she denounces.

The motion to reject may be put to a vote by the Republic of Latvia.

Rarely did all oppositions and even some Macronists introduce exclusion amendments. “We don’t want to make it financial. We will try to develop guidelines that explain that these are, for example, communities that can participate in funding,” Mark Fesno emphasized on Tuesday. “We need text, not small arms,” warned LR Julien Dive, as the government counts votes on the right or even in the PS or Liot (independents) for passage.

However, a government source fears a similar scenario to the Immigration Bill, with a rejection motion voted on by the LR in the semi-circle, and calls for a “certain number of deals to be accepted from committee”.

As for the trade unions, FNSEA supports the spirit of the text, but expects other measures in the field of taxation and pesticides, demands also made on the right. The Confederation of Paysanne, a third union, criticizes the bill, which “benefits agribusiness advocates by strengthening their license to pollute more” and “making it easier to expand farms.” Emmanuel Macron will host trade unions on Thursday at the Elysee Palace.