Elected Officials v. the law relating to the conditions for placing pesticides on the market

2020-809 DC
November 10, 2020
Final judgment
France, Paris

Politicians
Députies (84), Sénators
State
François Lafforgue, Clémentine Baldon, Bernard Fau, Laure Abramowitch, Sébastien Mabile, Didier Supplisson, Corinne Lepage

Constitutional
Direct action of unconstitutionality
, Neonicotinoid, Imidacloprid, Thiamethoxam, Clothianidin, Acetamiprid, Thiacloprid
Invalidate the unconstitutional provisions of the draft law "on the conditions for placing certain plant protection products on the market in the event of a health hazard for sugar beet".
Constitutional Court of Paris, France

December 10, 2020
Negative
The Constitutional Council considers the possibility of derogating from the ban on the use of plant protection products containing neonicotinoids to be in conformity with the Constitution, taking into account all the guarantees it provides and in particular its limited application exclusively until 1 July 2023.

Derogation from the ban on neonicotinoids. The law on the conditions for placing certain plant protection products on the market in case of health hazard by the National Assembly on October 30 and by the Senate on November 4, 2020, provides for the possibility to derogate from the definitive ban on the use of plant protection products containing substances of the neonicotinoid family. Opposition deputies and senators are referring the matter to the Constitutional Council because they believe that this law is clearly contrary to several principles of constitutional value, in particular the principle of non-regression. NGOs Générations Futures, Terre d'Abeilles, Syndicat National d'Apiculture (SNA), Fondation Nicolas Hulot pour la Nature et l'Homme (FNH), Union Nationale de l'Apiculture Française (UNAF), Collectif des maires anti-pesticides produce external contributions in support of this referral (voie de la Porte Etroite). On 12/10/2020, the Constitutional Council rules that the possibility of derogating from the ban on the use of neonicotinoid insecticides is in accordance with the Constitution. NGOs indicate that they are considering other legal options.