French farmers used tractors to block highways around Paris and rallied in front of parliament on Monday, protesting proposed amendments to a bill that would ease environmental regulations on farming.
The draft legislation aims to simplify approvals for breeding facilities and irrigation reservoirs, and to re-authorize a banned neonicotinoid pesticide used in sugar beet cultivation. Environmentalists argue the pesticide is harmful to bees.
This move reflects a broader trend in the EU to relax environmental laws as farmers face increasing costs and households struggle with the cost of living.
Environmental campaigners and some farmers’ unions argue the bill favors large-scale agriculture at the expense of smaller, independent farms.
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President Macron’s political opponents have introduced amendments that protesting farmers say threaten the bill’s passage.
“We’re asking lawmakers to be serious and vote for it as it stands,” said Julien Thierry, a grain farmer, criticizing lawmakers from the Greens and France Unbowed (LFI).
Farmers across France and Europe secured concessions last year after protesting against cheap foreign competition and excessive regulations.
On Monday, farmers drove tractors on multiple highways leading into Paris, causing traffic delays. Dozens gathered at the National Assembly as lawmakers debated the bill.
The FNSEA farmers union argues that simplifying regulations is necessary for French farming to be more competitive.
The union also supports the re-authorization of the neonicotinoid pesticide acetamiprid, arguing it is less toxic than other neonicotinoids and necessary to protect crops from pests, noting it is already authorized in other EU countries.
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