Emergency Agriculture Bill Ahead of Final Vote: Bompard Warns of Water Conflicts

Paris – 20.07.2026: The French National Assembly will decide on Monday evening at 9:30 p.m. on the compromise text for the law on the protection and sovereignty of agriculture. The Senate is expected to follow on Tuesday, July 21. Manuel Bompard, the national coordinator of La France insoumise, described the proposal on Monday as extremely dangerous and unacceptable. He specifically warned of an escalation of conflicts over water use.

The government introduced the bill under an accelerated procedure on April 8, 2026. According to the official presentation, it is intended to strengthen food sovereignty, protect agricultural businesses against unfair competition, simplify administrative procedures and improve producers’ position in the value chain. The draft contains 23 articles and combines industrial, trade, environmental and agricultural policy objectives.

The text now before Parliament is the result of an agreement reached on July 16 by a joint committee of seven deputies and seven senators. In the Senate, the bill was adopted at first reading on July 2 by 219 votes to 111. However, the final decision remains politically uncertain: even within the central governing bloc, there are reservations about individual provisions on water management and plant protection products.

Particularly contentious is the planned expansion of water storage facilities for agricultural purposes. According to the Senate’s presentation, storage capacity is to be doubled by 2035 and permitting rules simplified. At the same time, agricultural representation in local water bodies is to be strengthened. Supporters see this as a tool for adapting to drought and stabilizing harvests.

Critics, by contrast, fear that the rules could entrench the priority of agricultural withdrawals over drinking-water supply, water protection and other uses. Bompard’s warning of a conflict over water is linked to this institutional issue: in dry regions, it is not only the amount available that matters, but also the legal order in which different needs are taken into account.

Another point of contention concerns exemptions from the general ban on certain neonicotinoid-like plant protection products. The compromise provides for narrowly limited exemptions for sugar beet, apples, cherries and hazelnuts. At the same time, the text contains provisions against the import of food and feed containing substances prohibited in the European Union, where a serious health risk is identifiable.

The votes on July 20 and 21 will decide on more than individual technical relaxations. They highlight a fundamental conflict of objectives in French agricultural policy: securing production and incomes must remain compatible with protecting water resources, environmental standards and European law. Whether the compromise receives the required majority in both chambers will only be known after the respective final votes.