The French Constitutional Council has "for the first time" privileged the protection of the environment, by validating Friday the ban on production in France and export of plant protection products containing substances banned by the EU. The ban in 2022 on "production, storage and sale of plant protection products" containing substances prohibited by the EU and intended for third countries was contained in the Agriculture and Food Law (Egalim), promulgated on 30 October 2018.
The Union of Plant Protection Industries (UIPP, companies producing pesticides), joined by the French Union of seed companies, had tabled in November 2019 a priority question of constitutionality (QPC), arguing that "the ban on export (…) was, by the gravity of its consequences for the producing or exporting companies, contrary to the freedom to undertake ”.
"Very good news" for the government
By this decision, the Constitutional Council affirms, "for the first time", that it is up to the legislator to reconcile "the objectives of constitutional value, protection of the environment and protection of health with the exercise of freedom to undertake ”. He therefore judges that "the legislator is justified in taking into account the effects that activities carried out in France can have on the environment abroad".
"This is very good news, which gives unprecedented legal force to the objective of protecting the environment and allows us to act for ecology on a global scale," welcomed the Minister. of the Elisabeth Borne Ecological Transition. "We regret this unilateral decision, because we see that we are the only country in the world to have regulations which now prohibit the manufacture and export of unauthorized products to countries outside the European Union", a reacted Jean-Pierre Chevallier, lawyer of the UIPP.
"Decisive turning point"
The UIPP specifies in a press release that it "studies the possible legal ways". Environmental protection associations hailed a victory. "We are very happy because, for us, it is important not to do to others what we refuse to do on our territory", said Sophie Bardet, lawyer at France Nature Environment (FNH), who had filed observations in this case before the Constitutional Council.
“We are perhaps witnessing a decisive turning point in the prioritization of rights. For once, ecology and life outweigh the search for profits and the interest of manufacturers, "commented Jean-François Julliard, boss of Greenpeace France, in a tweet Friday morning.
Bordeaux
An online pot to measure pesticide residues in wine
Health
NGOs and scientists alert to controversial SDHI-based fungicides
- Export
- pesticides
- Environment
- Agriculture
- Planet
- Constitutional Council