French Constitutional Council validates agricultural emergency law allowing temporary return of banned neonicotinoid pesticides

Constitutional Council's decision

On Friday, August 14, 2026, France's Constitutional Council (Conseil constitutionnel) validated the quasi-totality of the agricultural emergency law adopted by Parliament on July 21, 2026. The decision came amid severe drought conditions affecting all agricultural productions across France. The Council approved the most controversial provisions, including the temporary reintroduction of two banned pesticides and measures to double agricultural water storage by 2035, while imposing limited reservations and striking down a handful of articles deemed unrelated to the bill.

The Council ruled that derogations allowing the temporary use of acetamiprid for the hazelnut sector and flupyradifurone for apples, cherries, and sugar beets serve a "general interest" (intérêt général). Both substances belong to the neonicotinoid family or related products. The Council acknowledged in its decision that these pesticides "have impacts on biodiversity, particularly for pollinating insects and birds, as well as consequences on water and soil quality and induce risks for human health." However, the Council found that the legislator intended to allow certain agricultural sectors to face serious dangers threatening their crops, to preserve their production capacity, and to protect them from competitive distortions at the European level.

Safeguards and reservations

The Council considered the derogations sufficiently framed: the number of concerned sectors is limited, as is the duration of the derogation, and the mode of use (coated seeds or spraying) is taken into account. Only ANSES, the French health authority, can decide whether conditions are met to grant a temporary derogation. The Council imposed two reservations. First, ANSES must be able to "restrict the geographic scope of the derogations." Second, if ANSES does not render its decision within two months, the silence will be treated as a refusal of the derogation. The Council noted that the two-month deadline "may be insufficient to guarantee the verification of all the conditions" attached to the derogation, a concern shared by both the government and ANSES itself.

Reversal from August 2025

The decision marks a shift from the Council's August 2025 ruling, when it rejected the reintroduction of acetamiprid under the controversial "Duplomb law." At that time, the Council found the reintroduction contrary to the Environmental Charter (Charte de l'environnement), a text with constitutional force. This time, the Council judged that the derogations are sufficiently encadrées, with limited sectors, limited duration, regulated use, and the exclusive role of ANSES in granting approval.

Water storage and minor censors

On water management, the Council validated all measures intended to facilitate the construction of water storage infrastructure for agriculture and to double stored volumes by 2035. This includes provisions requiring local water management plans to adapt to storage and take into account the economic situation of agriculture. One reservation was issued: a storage facility cannot be classified as a wetland (zone humide). The Council also struck down an article facilitating the dredging of water infrastructure, judging it unrelated to the initial text. Two additional articles were rejected as "legislative riders" (cavaliers législatifs), concerning urban planning constraints and livestock, though these were described as not central to the law.

Agricultural unions welcomed the Council's analysis, according to Le Figaro. The law's provisions take effect as farmers across France contend with drought conditions affecting all productions.