French environment minister resigns over pesticide exemptions for farmers

France’s environment minister, Monique Barbut, moved to resign after lawmakers backed an emergency farm bill that temporarily restores access to two pesticides banned for their risks to bees and other pollinators. The confrontation has turned a pesticide exemption into a test of how far President Emmanuel Macron’s government will bend to farm pressure while claiming to defend environmental standards.

The lower house approved the bill by 296 votes to 224 on July 21, with the Senate scheduled to give a final confirmatory vote later the same day. The measure allows exceptional use of acetamiprid and flupyradifurone, chemicals that have been barred in France since 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Farm groups have pushed hard for the exemptions, arguing that growers need relief from crop losses and stricter rules than competitors face elsewhere. Support has been particularly strong among sugar beet, apple and hazelnut producers, who have said the restrictions leave them at a disadvantage in markets where rivals can still use the products.

Barbut, appointed in October of last year, told Macron she would hand in her resignation on Wednesday. Macron did not accept it after their meeting, leaving her in office for now, but the episode exposed the political cost of trying to hold together climate pledges and rural demands at the same time.

The bill has drawn unusually broad opposition. More than 1,000 scientists and doctors signed an open letter in Le Monde urging the government not to reintroduce acetamiprid, warning about harm to bees, ecosystems and potentially to human health. A petition against the legislation also passed 1,000,000 signatures, clearing the threshold for a parliamentary debate and showing how deeply the issue has cut into public opinion.

The fight carries legal as well as political weight. Reuters said the same pesticide had already been blocked from returning last year after a ruling by the Constitutional Council, France’s top constitutional authority. That earlier decision had been seen as a brake on attempts to loosen pesticide limits, making the new bill a direct challenge to the country’s recent environmental line.

The farm package goes beyond chemicals. POLITICO reported that it also expands water-storage allowances for farmers, underlining how the legislation bundles several long-running grievances from the agricultural sector into one political bargain. For Macron, the risk is that each concession made in the name of food security and farm competitiveness chips away at the credibility of France’s green commitments.