After the vast debate launched by the antipesticides decree taken by the mayor of Langouët, in the west of France, justice has decided. The administrative court of Rennes announced, Friday, October 25, the cancellation of the decree taken on May 18 by Daniel Cueff, which prohibited the use of synthetic pesticides within 150 meters of houses in the town. A decree that has emulated, initiating a broad debate on the competence of a mayor to make such a decision.
Judge's verdict, five months after the fact: the mayor does not have this jurisdiction. To justify his decision, the administrative judge recalls that only the Minister of Agriculture is "in charge of the administrative police plant protection products", and that "the mayor of a municipality can not in any way interfere in the exercise of this special police by the enactment of a local regulation ".
"This is a blow because it is the first judgment that is made on the national level," responded Arnaud Delomel, the lawyer of the Langouët commune. "Today the first reflex is the desire to appeal, because we consider that this decision is not fair," he added. "We may be waiting until the end of October and beginning of November to see what will come out of the consultation launched by the government." Langouet has two months to appeal.
Absence of "imminent danger"
Since the decree of the Breton mayor, 104 municipalities have taken similar orders, according to the association Ragster, who shoulder them. Among them, Paris, Nantes and Lille. Decrees foster a wide debate on the use of pesticides near homes, sometimes leading to tensions between residents and farmers.
At the hearing on the merits, held on 14 October, the public rapporteur advocated the annulment and recalled the difference between legality and legitimacy. He also felt that the State was not responsible for "proven deficiency", and emphasized the absence of "imminent danger".
Asked by AFP, Daniel Cueff said "obviously disappointed in this decision because it is public health and we must not laugh with that".
Distance of 5 or 10 meters
"The judgment of the court is of a poverty in the argument that is incredible and does not take into account what we could bring as proofs," adds the mayor. "In particular the fact that the marketing authorization (AMM) synthetic pesticides, in the opinion of ANSES (National Agency for Health Safety, Ed), has never been the subject of 'analyzes of the consequences for local residents', states the one who asked for the application of the precautionary principle.
In an ANSES AMM monitoring committee meeting report, dated September 2018, an expert from the agency explains that "as regards the protection of persons present and residents, there is no has no specific management measures to date in marketing authorization decisions ".
In this same document, the committee, seized of a particular case, estimates "that a ray of 500 meters appears reasonable" to avoid that apple crops are contaminated by a pesticide used by a neighboring cultivator.
On June 26, the Council of State partially annulled an interministerial decree regulating the use of pesticides, judging that it did not sufficiently protect the health of residents and the environment.
A new draft Ministerial Order provides for the minimum distance between dwellings and spraying areas for chemical pesticides from five to ten meters depending on the crop.
The government has promised to take into account more than 50,000 opinions gathered during the public consultation before publishing the final texts for entry into force on 1 January 2020.
In a statement released Friday, Daniel Cueff called "all NGOs committed to the protection of health and the environment to demand the repeal of MAAs already delivered inconsiderately by ANSES and to initiate all administrative actions, civil or criminal required".
"Today I am prevented from protecting my population," said Daniel Cueff. "It will take the minister to take the measures that are required by the Council of State.If they are insufficient we will appeal," he said.
With AFP