The Council of State cancelled in a judgment of May 3, 2023 the orders of February 5, 2021 and January 31, 2022 of the Minister of Agriculture and Food and the Minister of Ecological Transition authorizing on a derogatory and provisional basis the use of sugar beet seeds treated with plant protection products containing the active substances imidacloprid or thiamethoxam.

To do so, the Council of State applies the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (C-162/21) of January 19, 2023, ruling that the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 53 of Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009 of October 21, 2009 must be interpreted as not allowing a Member State to authorize the placing on the market of plant protection products for seed treatment, and the placing on the market and use of seeds treated with those products, where the placing on the market and use of seeds treated with those products have been expressly prohibited by an implementing regulation.

In the present case, two implementing regulations (EU) 2018/783 and (EU) 2018/785 of 29 May 2018, prohibited the placing on the market and use of seeds treated with these two active substances, except for the purpose of cultivation in permanent greenhouses, throughout their life cycle, so that the resulting crop is not replanted outdoors. Thus, since the beet crops were not intended to remain in greenhouses throughout their life cycle, the Minister of Agriculture and Food and the Minister of Ecological Transition could not legally rely on the provisions of Article 53 of Regulation (EU) No 1107/2009 to authorize the use of sugar beet seeds treated with products containing imidacloprid or thiamethoxam. The use of these active substances for crops in permanent greenhouses is the only exception to the regulations banning imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. The Council of State confined itself to this argument and did not rule on the other arguments put forward by the associations.