Agriculture, an “important general interest” for France. From the Agricultural Show this Saturday, February 24, Emmanuel Macron has committed to ensuring that agriculture is recognized as “of great general interest to the French nation”, promising to include it in the law to “protect it in a firm and solid manner.” A measure with symbolic meaning, but above all with legal consequences, demanded by certain agricultural unions.
“It will be in our codes,” said Emmanuel Macron during his impromptu debate with farmers from different unions. “We will refer the matter to the State Council and integrate it into the agricultural guidance law,” he promised.
The question of water storage
If the President of the Republic has not clarified his intentions further, such a mention in the law would give agriculture an advantage in litigation. On everyone’s mind: the question of water storage, a thorny issue in regions affected by drought and lack of water. Water reservoir projects, or “megabasins,” as their opponents call them, are periodically attacked in court to prevent their implementation.
“We will not do agriculture without water,” FNSEA president Arnaud Rousseau stated again on BFMTV-RMC on Friday. “Those who have water storage projects, whether in hillside reservoirs, small volume, large volume, or replacement basins, need the legal framework that facilitates both the acceleration” of these projects and “also the jurisprudence that accompanies”, – asked the head of the main agricultural union.
Gabriel Attal had already announced shortly before the recognition of agriculture as a “fundamental interest of the nation”, insufficient for some farmers.
Source: BFM TV
