Cergy-Pontoise (France) (AFP)

A judge of summary proceedings rejected Friday the request for suspension of two anti-pesticide orders taken by the town halls of Gennevilliers and Sceaux, a decision hailed as a first victory by the mayors engaged for several months on this issue.

As elsewhere in France, the prefecture of Hauts-de-Seine had asked the court to suspend these orders, on the grounds that a mayor is not competent to make such decisions, which are the responsibility of the state.

The court of Cergy-Pontoise, which ruled in urgent (interim) pending a review on the merits, rejected this request Friday in two orders, saying that "none of the means raised was likely to create a serious doubt as to the legality of the orders ".

If decisions on the use of plant protection products are the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture, the mayor can intervene in this area "in case of serious or imminent danger," said the court in a statement.

"The judge hearing the application for interim measures has found that plant protection products constitute a serious danger for the exposed populations and that the administrative authority has not taken sufficient measures for the protection of public health", according to the same source.

"Given the local situation, these mayors have rightly considered that the inhabitants of their communes were exposed to serious danger," the court said.

Welcoming a "national first", the mayor of Gennevilliers, Patrice Leclerc, saw "an encouragement for those who fight for the health of farmers and the population."

But "the fight is not over," he continued, referring to the trial on the merits.

This decision "allows to make jurisprudence, it means that all the cities that have taken these orders will benefit," said Florence Presson, deputy mayor of Sceaux also in charge of the Collective of Mayors against pesticides.

Beyond these two urban communes, "we take a huge step also for rural communities," she said.

"In addition to validating the relevance of the approach of the city, this order clearly raises the question of the respective powers of the mayor and the state," said in a statement the mayor of Sceaux, Philippe Laurent.

- A hundred orders -

This decision comes a few days after the cancellation, on October 25, of the decree of the mayor of Langouët (Ille-et-Vilaine), first judgment at the bottom made at the national level.

This decree, taken on May 18, launched a vast debate on the use of pesticides near homes, sometimes leading to tensions between residents and farmers. More than a hundred municipalities have adopted similar orders, including Paris, Nantes and Lille.

The Administrative Court of Rennes had recalled that the "Minister of Agriculture is responsible for 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 ".

Friday, the mayor of Langouët Daniel Cueff, described as "formidable" the decisions taken in Cergy-Pontoise. "The president of the administrative court of Cergy had agreed to hear a doctor in Rennes non," he said.

Dozens of such proceedings are ongoing across France. Recently, it is for example the decree of the mayor of the village of Saoû, challenged by the prefect of Drôme, who was suspended by the administrative court of Grenoble.

The Council of State partially canceled on 26 June an interministerial decree regulating the use of pesticides, judging that it did not sufficiently protect the health of residents and the environment.

The government, which proposed a new draft decree deemed minimalist by environmentalists, promised to take into account the results of a public consultation held in September, before publishing the final texts for entry into force on 1 January 2020.

© 2019 AFP