"Never too late": after the million signatures of the anti-Duplomb law petition, what will happen next?

A petition launched by a young student against the Duplomb Law surpassed one million signatures on Sunday. This law, which aims to lift restrictions on farming, has been criticized in particular for the reintroduction of certain toxic pesticides authorized throughout Europe. The petition was launched on July 10 by Eléonore Pattery, 23, a Master's student in QSE and CSR (Quality, Safety, Environment / Corporate Social Responsibility).

The young woman denounces a "scientific, ethical, environmental, and health aberration." According to her, as stated in the petition, the Duplomb law "represents a frontal attack on public health, biodiversity, the coherence of climate policies, food security, and common sense."

Adopted on July 8 by Parliament, the Duplomb Law provides, among other things, for the reintroduction, by way of derogation and subject to conditions, of acetamiprid, a pesticide from the neonicotinoid family, banned in France but authorized in Europe. This product is in demand by beet and hazelnut producers, who believe they have no alternative to combat pests and are subject to unfair competition.

Eléonore calls for the immediate repeal of the law, a democratic review of the conditions under which it was adopted, and a public consultation with stakeholders in health, agriculture, ecology, and law.

If a debate is to take place on this law at the start of the school year, in accordance with the rules of the Assembly when a petition exceeds 500,000 signatures, the Ecologists and France Insoumise are now appealing to President Macron .

Never before has a petition garnered so much support, and in reality, that changes things somewhat. Opponents of the bill have thus won their first battle; a debate on the Duplomb bill will take place in the National Assembly at the start of the school year, but it will be a debate without a vote and therefore symbolic.

This is not enough for environmentalists and rebels, who, with more than a million signatures, are calling on Emmanuel Macron not to enact the bill. Be careful, warns former Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau, "a petition that repeals a law would signal the end of representative democracy."

This close associate of François Bayrou , for whom "anger" must be heard, has scheduled a meeting for early August. According to some experts, it is not impossible that the Constitutional Council will censor certain articles of the text. And that is when Emmanuel Macron could intervene, at the very end of the process and not before, the Élysée Palace specified on RMC on Sunday.

For François Veillerette, spokesperson for the association Générations futures, and signatory of the petition, "it's never too late."

"The Duplomb law contains provisions that are very harmful to the environment and health, and there has been no real debate in the National Assembly, and no right to submit amendments," he explains.

Indeed, this law has had an atypical parliamentary journey, as it is "very rare" for the promoter of a law to "have a motion of rejection passed in the National Assembly." A motion of rejection was adopted by those defending the text to allow it to go directly to the Joint Committee and avoid debates in the Assembly and the vote on amendments that could have modified the text.

According to him, the President of the Republic can, in any case, refuse to promulgate it and request a second examination by the National Assembly.

Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet said on Sunday on franceinfo that she was "in favor" of opening a new debate. However, he "will under no circumstances be able to reverse the law passed," which, according to her, will "save a certain number of our farmers." The activist's response: "She says what she wants; it's her absolute right, but one of the President's missions is to ensure national harmony."

And that would begin by heeding the demands of critics. Indeed, "we clearly see that there is a rejection of a certain number of provisions of this law," explains François Veillerette. This is particularly true of neonicotinoid insecticides, the dangers of which 22 learned and medical societies have recently highlighted.

"There is no support at all from a vast majority of the population for this aspect of the text," he continues.

The spokesperson for the association Générations futures also calls for a public debate, which "could tell us what type of food the French want, a policy debate."

Petitions have been available on the Assembly's website since 2019, but only one, against the Brav-M, a motorized police brigade for the suppression of violent action, has so far collected 260,000 signatures, a far cry from this figure.