France: the possible return of neonicotinoids "bee killers" stirs tensions
The activists of Extinction Rebellion gave a performance behind the National Assembly on Monday, October 5, to mark their opposition to the return of neonicotinoids.
Christine Siebert / RFI
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
Monday, October 5, the deputies began to examine the bill which authorizes the partial return of these pesticides "bee killers", banned since 2018, precisely because of the risks they pose to insects.
But this year, the sugar beet industry was hit by a viral disease transmitted by aphids, which prompted the government to reverse the ban on these controversial pesticides.
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The sugar industry is threatened, and this concerns around twenty sugar factories and 46,000 jobs.
This is the argument of the Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, in favor of a temporary return of neonicotinoids to support a sector weakened by the proliferation of a green aphid vector of a disease which causes a kind of "jaundice" in plants. .
On the other hand, beekeepers,
conservationists
and scientists are launching a cry of alarm: "
In the midst of a health and ecological emergency, the French, their children and grandchildren will judge your will to privilege - or not - their health and the environment
”, write about thirty organizations in the
Journal du dimanche
.
In the political sphere, from the far left to the far right, "
we are all against
", notes Julien Denormandie.
The subject divides in all ranks.
► To read also: Why France bans neonicotinoid insecticides
In the face of the outcry, the government advocates very limited use
On the farmers' side, a minority of them, affiliated to the Confédération paysanne, ensures that the pressure weighing on the sector is that of the market much more than the disease transmitted by aphids.
Consequently, this union rather advocates support for the sugar industry.
MEPs are therefore preparing for a vote under high tension.
Several anti-neonicotinoid demonstrations are planned in front of the National Assembly.
The government wants to be reassuring: the reintroduction of these pesticides will be temporary, limited to three years and limited to sugar beet, he defends himself.
Christophe Castaner, boss of LREM deputies, believes that the government measure was "
deeply framed
".
Not sure that this is enough to calm the spirits.
"Pesticides are killing us": the punch action of Extinction Rébellion before the National Assembly
Christine siebert
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